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— the secret society —
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volume 01
1 — issue 03
culture
Banking on Art

The Word
Magazine is
Nicholas Lewis
Advertising
Benoit Berben
Editor-at-large
Hettie Judah
Design
Delphine Dupont
+ pleaseletmedesign
Photography
Yassin Serghini
Geneviève Balasse
Erwin Borms
Sarah Eechaut
Sarah Michielsen @ Outlandish
Opération Panda
Writers
Nick Amies
Alex Deforce
Stéphanie Duval
Hettie Judah
Julien Mourlon
Jacques Moyersoen
Géraldine Van Houte
Séverine Vaissaud
Randa Wazen
Nicholas Lewis
Thank you’s:
Barbara van Cauwelaert
Christopher Coppers
Augustin Dufrasne
Sebastien Leclerq
Mariola Heslop
Monika Michalik
Anne Claire Schmidt
The Word Magazine is
published six times a year by
JamPublishing
107 Rue Général Henry Straat
1040 Brussels Belgium.
Reproduction, in whole or in
part, without prior permission is
strictly prohibited. All information
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going to press. The publishers
cannot be held liable for any
changes in this respect after this
date. Opinions expressed in The
Word are those of authors alone.
© Sarah Eechaut
The least that could be said is that eyebrows were raised when
word of this issue’s theme started to spread. “The Secret Society”
people wondered, “what do they mean?”. Although it actually took
us some time to fi gure it out for ourselves, we did fi nally come to
grips with the idea…
More than anything, the Secret Society - or more accurately,
The Word’s Secret Society – relates more to an approach than
an actual, physical grouping of men (or women for that matter)
meeting in off-the-beaten-track locations and engaging in rituals of
some sort. Let us reassure you from the outset, we are not about to
go undercover in Belgium’s Free Masons or track down the King’s
(supposedly) secret daughter.
Instead, we thought to use our leverage – however limited it may
be – to go where others have yet to go, look at things the way others
are still to look at them and, staying true to the magazine’s core
being, uncover a different side of Belgium. Backstage, behind-thescenes,
access, underground and curiosity were the buzz words.
But also the approach.
Bringing us to The Word’s third issue. We take a different view to
the country’s biggest football stadium, meet the movers and shakers
in our home-grown music scene and get a private viewing of Belgian
banks’ notoriously private art collections. We also check-in
on designer Xavier Lust freshly returned from Milan’s Salone del
Mobile and get photographer Pierre Debuscherre to revisit his
on-going water-splendid series exclusively for us. This, as usual, in
addition to our bulging diary, exquisite fashion spreads and quirky
little goodie-giveaways…
Hope you’ll enjoy reading this issue as much we’ve enjoyed producing
it.
‘Til next time word-of-mouthers.
Nicholas Lewis
On this cover
Purple Rain
editor's letter
THE THIRD WORD — 7

contents page
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contributors
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The Diary
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the secret papers
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open sesame
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the movers & shakers
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back in the days
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the institution
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three of the best
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behind closed doors
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the culture briefi ng
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the culture briefi ng
The Secret Society
Pepe
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Sisheido
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Guerlain
N°3
You’re Looking at it
Carpe Diem
The Page After This One
Saab
It's a Word's World
Bang & Olufsen
Our Post-it Page
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers - Belgium
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers - Belgium
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers - Belgium
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers - UK
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers - UK & France
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers – Fance & The Netherlands
Vichy Homme
Title Page
Strings & Bows
Saturday, it's a Saturday
Eastpack
Luxury Democracy
Godiva
Stone Cold Chilling
Aspria
Wishful Thinking
Tamarind Foods
Inside Anderlecht
Inside Anderlecht
Behind the Bands
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The Early Bird
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The Man Down Under
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Luxury Shopping Bags
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Do You Remember the First Time?
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Creative Accountancy
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contents page
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back cover
Creative Accountancy
Breitling
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Creative Accountancy
Volvo
In or Out
In or Out
In or Out
In or Out
In or Out
In or Out
In or Out
In or Out
Beauty Parlours — Sophie Engelen
Beauty Parlours — Mo
Beauty Parlours — Anita Lixel
Beauty Parlours — Karin Nuñez de Fleurquin + BBF
The Word & Cachemire Coton et Soie
The Word & Cachemire Coton et Soie
The Secret Dinner
The Secret Dinner
Operation Bloempanch
Operation Bloempanch
What Xavier Brought Back
What Xavier Brought Back
Hidden Appearances
Hidden Appearances
Hidden Appearances
Hidden Appearances
Hidden Appearances
Hidden Appearances
Hidden Appearances
Sony
Kelly De Meyer
Kelly De Meyer
Kelly De Meyer
Kelly De Meyer
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Songs We Listen To
Suscribe to The Word
The Word & Marriott Hotels
…and Others We Love
Round Up
Round Up
The Death of the Developer
The Death of the Developer
The Ultimate Getaway
Burberry
Hermès

the contributors
It's a
Word's
World
Sarah Eechaut
Photographer
Working out of Ghent, Sarah is
a freelance photographer and
graphic designer. She sent us
an email saying she loved the
magazine, we sent one back
saying we loved her work, and
the rest is history. For this
issue, we asked Sarah to go
undercover at Belgium’s biggest
football stadium.
—
Pages n° 32, 33
12 — THE THIRD WORD
Sarah Michielsen
@ Outlandish
Photographer
Based in Brussels, Sarah
works with Antwerp-based
photography collective
Outlandish. Her work
revolving around architectural
photography having got our
attention, we asked her to shoot
our piece on Belgian banks’
private art collections.
—
Pages n° 48, 49, 50, 51, 54
Sandra Herzman
Stylist
Although we’d been urged to
work with Sandra for some
time now, we only just recently
got around to meeting her.
Seductive, revealing and
pulpy being our fashion series’
buzzwords, we knew she was
the person to go to to style it.
—
Pages n° 56, 57, 58,
59, 60, 61, 62, 63
Eleonore Nataf
Make up artist
First time Word contributor,
Eléonore is the kind of person
you wished was at every shoot:
full of initiative and bubblyto-the-bone
yet professional
and subtle in her art. One we’d
been encouraged to work with
and a right suggestion it was.
—
Pages n° 56, 57, 58,
59, 60, 61, 62, 63
Nick Ni Nick k Amies AAmies i
Writer Wit
A freelance writer, Nick has
been based in Brussels for a
year or so now. He specializes
in the arts, although writing
about music is what really gets
him going. For this issue, we
asked our man to investigate the
inner-workings of the country’s
homegrown Rock scene.
—
Pages n° 34, 35, 36, 37

the diary
14 — THE THIRD WORD

The next few weeks’
agenda fi llers
Belgium,
Eye Candy Rocks
This exhibition seems to have
been curated simply to have us
rave-on about it throughout the
months to come. Put simply,
Bozar’s summer showcase
highlights the visual artwork
of some 20 international rockers
- and rockerettes! - bringing
them together in a cacophony
of styles sure to please the most
demanding of tastemakers out
there. Drawing on the works of
everyone from grandees Patti
Smith, Yoko Ono and Lou Reed
to more contemporary names
as Pete Doherty, The Kills and
offi ce favorite Miss Kittin, the
exhibition promises to reveal a
lesser-known facet to these musicians’
creative streaks. With
another month to come before
the exhibition’s opening, we can
only hope it will be one of those
“artists will be present” kind of
openings.
It’s Not Only Rock ‘N’ Roll,
Baby
From 17 th June
until 14 th September 2008
☞ BOZAR, Brussels
www.bozar.be
Under the Skin
Moving away from his earlier
work focusing on the anatomy
of the human body, Maurice
Frydman’s more recent work
attempts to make sense of his
Holocaust experience – or more
specifi cally his non-experience
- of the sad event. Indeed, a
great many Jews who managed
to escape the horrors of the
Holocaust apparently endured
considerable diffi culties in
coming to terms with their
luck, for want of a better word.
This, in Frydman’s case, was
the beginning of a long and
strenuous artistic expression
of his oppressive memories,
creating vulnerable silhouettes
with seemingly fragile frames.
Although sometimes diffi cult
to stomach, the bareness and
rawness of Frydman’s work had
us all looking deep down inside
ourselves.
À Fleur de Peau
Until 22 nd June 2008
☞ Jewish Museum of Belgium,
Brussels
www.museejuif.be
Graphic Resistance
A revolution needs a fair dose
of timely propaganda and
promotional creativity to make
itself noticed, and May 68ers as
they are known had picked up
on this fact long-before the fi rst
street protests began. Drawing
on collector Eric Kawan’s extensive
collection, the exhibition
re-traces the political poster’s
history and its role in furthering
political messages through the
powerful tool of clever imagery
and font use. The exhibition
coinciding with a call for ex-68ers
to hand-in their creations,
this one is sure to revive old
memories of long-forgotten, leftleaning
ideals and principles.
MAI Oui!
Until 17 th August 2008
☞ Le Centre de la Gravure,
Brussels
www.centredelagravure.be
The in-betweeners
Brussels Jazz Marathon on weekend of 23rd May 2008
Jazz jamboree which overtakes the whole city with its mix of
internationally-renowned musicians and lesser-known acts
the diary
© Atelier populaire d’Amiens © Musée juif de Belgique
© Miss Kittin
THE THIRD WORD — 15

the diary The Next Few Weeks’ Agenda Fillers
16 — THE THIRD WORD
© Olivier Van Den Brempt © Jan Van Dooren, SABAM
© Anja Hellebaut
© André Morin
10 Days Off in Ghent, from 18th July onwards
House, electro, rock, drum 'n' bass, minimal, broken beats, nu-jazz, techno, funk, disco,
electro-house, you'll fi nd it all at 10 Days Off.
Future Visions
It’s been a while since we last
mentioned a quintessentially-
Belgian exhibition, and this one
provides just the right opportunity
to do so. An abstract artist
down-to-the-bone, Edmond
van Dooren entertained a certain
enthusiasm for modern life,
often using his talent to depict
intricate scenes of typically Belgian
industrial era dreams and
disillusionment. It is this facet
of the artist’s career which the
exhibition brings to light, and
one which makes good of van
Dooren’s narrative streak. An
interesting and eye-opening exhibition
on one of the pioneers
of Belgian abstract painting.
Dreaming of a Future World
Until 30 th June 2008
☞ René Magritte Museum,
Brussels
www.magrittemuseum.be
Visual Mather
Our adolescence was spent with
one fi nger fi rmly placed on the
“record” button of our VHS
player for fear of missing a BBC,
Arte or Canal+ documentary
or short fi lm. And it would seem
that the guys at Brussels’ European
Film Festival lived through
the same ordeal. Now in its sixth
edition, the festival has built up
quite a reputation for scouring
the continent in search of the
next video talent, bringing back
its most note-worthy pickings to
the capital. With past luminaries
including Icelandic Dagur
Kari and Hungarian Agnes
Kocsis, the Festival always lives
up to its reputation of bringing
quasi-unheard of fi lmmakers
to its fi lm-adoring audiences.
Including us.
Brussels European
Film Festival
From 28 th June
until 6th July 2008
☞ Flagey, Brussels
www.fffb.be
Questionable Reflections
Mirrors occupy an important,
often narcissist, position in our
lives, if only to remind us who
we (actually) are. Refl ections of
the real and unavoidable, they
represent the truest form of selfappraisal,
a point made clear
at ISELP’s current exhibition,
De Narcisse à Alice. Focusing
on the mirror as a precursor to
wider transgressions, it draws
on the work of home-grown
and international artists to
make sense of a most timely of
recurring questions: what is our
relationship with the real? Not
ones to shy away from an intellectually
stimulating refl ection
of sorts, we recommend this
one to any self-confessed highthinker
out there.
De Narcisse à Alice
Until 21 st June 2008
☞ ISELP, Brussels
www.iselp.be
Less-is-More
South-Korean painter and
sculptor Lee Ufan is one of
the founders of the Mono-Ha
school of thought, which favors
a minimalist approach to artistic
refl ection and the near-ritualistic
exclusive use of elements
of natural origin. Placing more
importance on the process gone
through to create a given sculpture
than on its actual fi nality,
Ufan rarely interferes with his
chosen materials, preferring to
merely appose one next to the
other, allowing for their natural
auras to do the rest. With most
modern artwork resembling
something between a Pollockgone-bad
and the creations of
an overzealous Dalist, Ufan’s
work brings some much-appreciated
simplicity, purity and
confi dence to the game.
Lee Ufan
From 11 th April 2008
Until 29th June 2008
☞ Fine Arts Museum
of Belgium, Brussels
www.fine-arts-museum.be

Referential Meanings
Mike Kelley is an artist who
uses the powers of memory and
autobiography to construct,
deconstruct and make sense
of systems and structures he
initiated in the earlier parts of
his artistic career. Educational
Complex Onwards, 1995 –
2008, presents the process of
evolution through which the
artist went in developing his architectural
project of painstakingly
replicating each and every
school he attended. Through
installations, paintings, photographs,
sculptures and archives,
the exhibition highlights the
artist’s originality whilst making
evident his versatility in a wideranging
of techniques. One not
to be missed, if only for the fact
that this is Kelley’s fi rst major
retrospective in ten years.
Education
Complex Onwards 1995 - 2008
Until 27 th July 2008
☞ Wiels, Brussels
www.wiels.org
Just Wait (and See)
It has been said that we spend
the better part of our lives stuck
in traffi c jams. Well the same
could probably be said about
traffi c lights, an act German
photographer Florian Böhm
magnifi cently captures with his
latest work, entitled Wait for
Walk. Exhibited at Brussels’
Young Gallery, his photographs
are a pertinent rendition of New
Yorkers’ waiting, if only ephemerally.
Capturing them at traffi c
lights, waiting to walk the pedestrian
crossing, his photographs
offer a new take on traditional
American street photography as
we know it.
Wait for Walk
From 30 th May
until 4 th September 2008
☞ Young Gallery, Brussels
www.younggalleryphoto.com
Inventorying the inventor
The fi rst major retrospective of
its kind on Christophe Gevers’
work, this exhibition is as
complete as retrospectives get.
Presenting everything from the
artist’s public space dummies to
his furniture and lighting prototypes,
the exhibition is testament
to the sheer hard-work put
in by the man. Working with
wood, stone, steel or leather, his
work could best be described as
‘ingenious functionality meets
unparalleled beauty’. Well, that
at least is how we see it.
Christophe Gevers Design
Until 15 th August 2008
☞ CIVA/ Foundation
for Architecture, Brussels
www.civa.be
Designed Dilemma
Combine late 1950's designers’
return to form-over-function
with the colors and freedom
expressed in the late 1970’s and
you are likely to end up with a
good idea of what Paul Paulin’s
work resembles. Often described
as an absolute modernist
for the visible rigor instilled in
his creations, he has successfully
brought both design periods
closer together in a world of
clean lines and functional
designs yet with refreshingly
light – sometimes even bright –
color palettes. Grand-Hornu’s
fi tting retrospective of the
designers’ work – stretching
from his furniture and kitchen
appliances to his industrial and
product designs – does a brilliant
job of showcasing a prolifi c
and talented career. One we’re
sure to go back to for one of our
much-needed weekends away.
Supermodern
Until 22 nd June 2008
☞ Site of the Grand-Hornu,
Hornu
www.grand-hornu.be
Patrick De Spiegelaere @ Antwerp’s Fotomuseum until 8th June 2008
Belgium’s answer to the UK’s Don McCullin, De Spiegelaere sadly past-away on
2nd March 2007. This exhibition remembers his outstanding, lifelong work.
The Next Few Weeks’ Agenda Fillers the diary
© Mike Kelley
© Florian Böhm
© Fondation pour l’architecture
et fondation Archives design
© Grand-Hornu Images
THE THIRD WORD — 17

the diary The Next Few Weeks’ Agenda Fillers
Banal Celebrations
Guillaume Bijl’s conspicuous
consumption-inspired art installations
have earned him the
reputation as being somewhat
of an anti-artist, a description
he has always thought to move
away from. Bijl works within
four pre-conceived universes:
Transformations Installations
(where he often overtakes a gallery’s
space with his bigger-thanlife
installations), Situations
Installations (which pit the
real against the unreal), Sorry
Installations (which more often
than not are witty takes on banal
occurrences) and Compositions
Trouvées (in which he creates
compositions of unrelated,
found objects). For his
exhibition at Ghent’s S.M.A.K
museum, the artist brings,
among many other things, erotic
and lederhosen museums to life.
Add to that a pinch of sarcasm
and we have ourselves a Word
favorite.
Guillaume Bijl
Until 6 th July 2008
☞ S.M.A.K, Ghent
www.smak.be
Northern Whites
We’ve been known to have a
certain penchant for Nordic
designs so were thrilled when
we heard of Design Museum’s
Voices from Sweden exhibition.
Combining the work of ten
contemporary Swedish ceramic
artists, the exhibition’s curator,
Inger Mollin, has selected work
from artists with visibly differing
approaches to ceramics,
making for a varied showcase of
clean-lined, modernistic ceramic
creations. With the craft lately
making it back to the top of our
design shopping wish-lists, this
one had us dashing for the fi rst
train to Ghent.
Voices from Sweden
From 17 th May
until 22 nd June 2008
☞ Design Museum, Ghent
www.design.museum.gent.be
18 — THE THIRD WORD
© courtesy Collection De Coninck
© Patrik Johansson
United Kingdom,
© Malick Sidibé, courtesy GwinZegal
© Hauser & Wirth and Kesselhaus Josephsohn
Visual Memory
We at The Word are known to
entertain a certain penchant for
the visual arts, and photography
most particularly. So
talk of a history lesson of some
sort – and one which focused
on portrait photography more
precisely – in what is arguably
the world’s most successful
art venue, had us all dreaming
of cross-Chanel assignments.
Drawing on the works of such
big guns as Arbus, Beaton,
Mapplethorpe and Tillmans,
the exhibition retraces the
evolution of portraiture and its
varying techniques, from street
to studio. With over 300 works
by 19th – and 20th – century
photographers, Tate Modern’s
razor-sharp curatorial might
continues to impress.
Street & Studio:
An Urban History of Photography
From 22 nd May
until 31 st August 2008
☞ Tate Modern, London
www.tate.org.uk
Sculpture Shy
German-born, 87 year old
sculptor Hans Josephsohn creates
what he calls ‘self-enclosed
fi gures’ who keep a constant, if
not fearful, distance from the
chatter of contemporary culture.
Basing his work entirely
on the human form, the artist
uses plaster to form his silhouettes,
casting them in bronze to
give them a dramatic yet oddly
calm and soothing fi nish. The
fi rst exhibition of its kind to
bring Josephsohn’s work to
the UK, Hauser & Wirth once
again successfully manage to
capitalize on an artist’s recent
upsurge in popularity. All the
more commendable we say.
Hans Josephsohn
From 28 th May
until 26 th July 2008
☞ Hauser & Wirth, London
www.ghw.ch

Rapid Design
China’s phenomenal rise in
the art world – from both an
artist as well as a collector
perspective – has often had the
unlikely result of leaving out
the country’s many designers.
London’s Victoria & Albert
Museum’s China Design Now
exhibition seeks to rectify this,
with a far-ranging showcase
of the country’s creative talent,
stretching from Olympic
architectural landmarks such
as Zhu Pei’s Digital Beijing to
a boutique hotel on the Great
Wall of China. A good attempt
at making sense of a country’s
growing political and economical
might through the more
creative aspects of its culture,
this is one exhibition we’re defi -
nitely making time for on our
next London shopping trip.
China Design Now
Until 13 th July 2008
☞ Victoria & Albert Museum,
London
www.vam.ac.uk/
chinadesignnow
Urban Alternative.
London's East End is home to
more galleries and artists per
square mile than anywhere else
on the planet, which explains
The Streets' exhibition launched
by Bulgarian artist Nedko
Solakov in conjunction with
Whitechapel Gallery. Set in and
around the area's Wentworth
Street' which stretches from the
city's financial district to Brick
Lane' it showcases a year-long
series of artists' commissions.
From German artist Bernd
Krauss's 7shopsaweek installations
to art collective Canal's
performances and screenings,
the exhibition promises to bring
an eclectic and colorful body of
work to the East's streets.
The Streets
From 22 nd May
until 13 th July 2008
☞ Whitechapel Gallery, London
www.whitechapel.org
Short Escape @ Beursschouwburg on 29th May 2008
Monthly showcase of short-fi lms which make it their mission to discover
unheard of movies and bring them to a cinema-loving public.
© Chen_Shaohua
© Whitechapel
The Next Few Weeks’ Agenda Fillers the diary
© Patti Smith
© Angelos
France,
Royal Storytelling
Paris’s Fondation Cartier puts
on one of its fi nest exhibitions
to date, with a very personal
exhibition of famed American
musician and artist Patti Smith.
Smith’s life is fi lled with stories
and anecdotes of New York’s
underground scene – such as
moving into the Big Apple’s
infamous Chelsea Hotel with a
certain Robert Mapplethorpe,
thus fi rmly fi xing her on the
scene’s regular circuit - acting
as the perfect backdrop for her
many creations. Essentially
working within the remits of
Polaroid photography, collageartwork,
drawing and poetry,
Smith’ work captures a certain
vibrancy of a past period fi lled
with rebellious feelings and
raging creativity. All hail the
godmother of punk.
Land 250
Until 22 nd June 2008
☞ Fondation Cartier, Paris
www.fondation.cartier.com
A Belgian in Paris
Following on from the success
of The Louvre’s Contrepoint
series, the museum continues in
its quest to favor contemporary
artists, and living ones more
specifi cally. This spring, the
French cultural institution gives
carte blanche to Belgian contemporary
art’s enfant terrible
Jan Fabre. A prodigious student
of the country’s early 1980’s
Flemish artistic wave, Fabre
draws, plasticizes, sculpts,
installs and shocks. For his free
reign at Paris’ Louvre, he revisits
its many rooms dedicated
to paintings of the Northern
schools, making abstract parallels
between his work and that
of ancient masters. A refreshing
take on the museum’s wellknown
collection.
Angel of Metamorphosis
Until 7 th July 2008
☞ Louvre, Paris
www.louvre.fr
THE THIRD WORD — 19

the diary The Next Few Weeks’ Agenda Fillers
Black & white
Once a warehouse used to sort
out the mail, Lille’s Tri Postal
has built up quite a reputation as
a space dedicated to contemporary
arts where, until recently,
French magnate François
Pinault’s impressive collection
could be seen. In its current exhibition,
the gallery showcases
work by über-haute couturier
Karl Lagerfeld, who also happens
to be an internationally-acclaimed
photographer shooting
everything from Chanel to Dom
Perignon campaigns. His work,
entitled One Man Show, features
over 350 photographs of
model Brad Koenig. Although
we already had the chance to
catch this one when it opened in
Berlin, it’s been a while since we
last went to Lille and this might
just provide the perfect opportunity
to do so. (GVH)
One Man Show
Until 29 th June 2008
☞ Tri postal, Lille
www.transphotographiques.com
© Karl Lagerfeld - Paris
What We’re Giving Away
5x pairs of ticket to the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s “Shine a Light” on 27 th May 2008.
10x entrances to Bozar’s “It’s not Only Rock ‘N’ Roll, Baby!” exhibition from 17 th June 2008 onwards.
10x entrances (valid for two fi lms) to the Brussels European Film Festival, from 28 th June onwards.
5x pairs of one-day tickets to the “10 Days Off” festival in Ghent, from 18 th July onwards.
And two pairs of tickets to the following concerts:
Flogging Molly @ L’ Ancienne Belgique on 28 th May 2008
Sage Francis @ L’ Ancienne Belgique on 1 st June 2008
Tokyo Police @ Le Botanique on 5 th June 2008
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ L’ Ancienne Belgique on 14 th June 2008
What you need to do Email your full name, postal address and date of birth to wewrite@thewordmagazine.be, mentioning the name of the exhibition,
festival or concert you wish to go to in the subject line. For “10 Days Off” festival, please specify which day you would like to go to. For the Brussels
European Film Festival, please specify which movie you would like to go to.
Conditions Until tickets and offer last. Martin Scorsese competition ends 25 th May 2008 at midnight. “It’s Not Only Rock ‘N’ Roll Baby!” competition
ends 15 th June 2008 at midnight. “10 Days Off” competition ends 16 th July at midnight. “Brussels European Film Festival” ends 26 th June at midnight.
Applies to Belgium only. Normal conditions apply.
© Maarten van Schaik
& Holland.
Changing Grounds
Amsterdam’s Zuidas is the city’s
top international corporate
location, and has a world-class
visual art department named
Virtual Museum Zuidas which,
since its inception, has gone
through dramatic changes to its
location and structure. This resulted
in the museum’s supervisor
to begin commissioning artists
– up to four photographers
and artists per year – inviting
them to give their take on the
museum and its surroundings’
ongoing changes. The totality
of the work produced over the
years has now permanently
been transferred to Foam,
which is why the exhibition is
being held. It seems there isn’t a
lot Foam can do which is wrong
to us Wordsters, and this is yet
more evidence of this.
Expanding the City
Until 22 nd June 2008
☞ Foam Gallery, Amsterdam
www.foam.nl

the secret papers
— Whether indulging in our very own personal concierge
service, lounging in a luscious luxury rental boutique or
being shown the backstages of Belgium’s dirtiest club night,
our Secret Society issue has us discovering a whole new
other side to Belgium. And that was before we heard about
a Brussels-based superstar choreographer.
Writers Randa Wazen, Stéphanie Duval and Nicholas Lewis
22 — THE THIRD WORD

Strings and Bows
The second half of the 20 th century saw the
rebirth of classical music, and therefore of
the instruments craftsmen. But did you know
that one of the most renowned violinmakers
of Europe is Belgian? Indeed, Jan Strick,
who has been running the prestigious Maison
Bernard for twenty years, receives clients
spanning the entire globe, though mostly
from Europe, Japan, Korea and America.
Ninety percent of his customers are professional
musicians, among which some of the
world’s greatest violin players, such as Uto
Ughi, Mischa Maisky or Michaël Gutman.
“I knew I wanted to become a violinmaker
when I was still very young and almost
dropped out of high school”, Mr Strick admits.
“Of course my parents weren’t too keen
on the idea… So as soon as I graduated, I
criss-crossed France during eight years to
learn the art of violin making.” Upon his
return, Nicolas Bernard noticed Jan, and decided
to pass on to him the reins of his established
workshop. Pierre Guillaume, a bow-
maker, would become his partner. Today the
workshop gathers twelve people, which is
quite unique, considering most violinmakers
work by themselves.
Even though the profession has boomed
during the past decades (in the 50’s, only
two violinmakers remained in all of Belgium
whereas today, Brussels alone is home to fi fteen
of them) the Maison Bernard still stands
out. All instruments are handmade, no accessories
are sold, and it does not provide rental
services. The Strick workshop is also highly
qualifi ed in the restoration of antique instruments
and houses an impressive collection of
both ancient and modern violins, acquired
through regular journeys worldwide.
It’s no surprise that such rare pieces don’t
come cheap; the prices cover a wide range,
from € 1 000 to € 150 000. But, “when you
buy a violin, you’re acquiring a companion
for life”, Mr Strick remarks. “For most musicians,
their instrument is something to be
proud of, it represents who they are. I suppose
it’s the same way some people might
feel about clothes.”
Strings and Bows the secret papers
Adding even more to its prestige, the
Queen Elisabeth Competition has relied on
the Maison Bernard for the past twenty years.
During the ten-day isolation period in which
the competitors master their piece, only Jan
Strick or Pierre Guillaume are allowed to
trespass the gates of the Val Duchesse castle
to handle any repair that may be needed.
Talk about a royal endorsement. (RW)
Maison Bernard
Rue Ernest Allardstraat 38
1000 Brussels
THE THIRD WORD — 23

the secret papers Saturday, it's a Saturday
Saturday, it’s a Saturday
The fi nal rush usually starts on a Friday,
with stage props going up, setting up DJ-specifi
c mixing tables and making last-minute
hotel bookings. Then comes the day itself
- Saturday - used for bringing fi nal touches
to the night’s art production, picking up DJ’s
from the airport, settling them in their hotel
rooms, taking them out to dinner and fi nally,
bringing them to the club. Then comes the
fun. 100%, dirty dancing fun.
This, since September 2003, has been
the weekly routine of Lorenzo and Cosy
Mosy, the brains behind Dirty Dancing, a
night held every Saturday at Brussels' Mirano
Continental.
“We were increasingly growing tired of
the archetypical linear beats and commercial
dance prevalent in Belgian clubs in
the 90s” Lorenzo tells The Word “and decided
to take matters into our own hands”.
They both, on their respective sides, started
throwing little one-off bashes around the
capital. Lorenzo’s were called Futurepop
whilst Cosy Mosy’s were known as the Blow-
24 — THE THIRD WORD
up Club, whose fi rst night at Mirano- rather
amazingly - saw sets by LCD Soundsystem,
2Many DJ’s, Polyester, Darko and Cosy
Mosy himself. One thing leading to another,
Lorenzo booked Cosy Mosy for his own parties
for three nights. At the end of the second
night, they both sat down and decided they
should collaborate.
“Dirty Dancing really began on the back
of our belief that people wanted to go back
out” goes on Lorenzo “The 90s had seen
the advent of grunge and AIDS and, come
the new millennium, there really was an
undercurrent of change in people’s mentality
towards going-out”. With their vision
of a more wholesome clubbing experience
– complete with fashion shows and art exhibitions
– Lorenzo and Cosy Mosy’s Dirty
Dancing nights seemed to be the breath of
fresh air every self-respecting clubber was
waiting for at the turn of the century.
“Instead of expecting people to go towards
music, art or fashion, we thought it best to
bring it to them” he says, as way of explanation
for Dirty Dancing’s collaborations with everyone
from fashion designers Shampoo & Con-
ditioner, Mademoiselle Jean and Idiz Bogam
(“one of the most memorable Dirty happenings”
he says of the latter’s fashion show at the
club) to, more recently, illustrator Seb B. But
the music remains the main draw…
Felix Da Housecat has played seven times
(“ he came to the club one night in March
2007, said he wanted to play and, after telling
him I’d only accept if he did a three hour
set different than the one he usually played
at festivals, called his booking agent over
and that was that”), dance fl oor legend Laurent
Garnier has played once (“it took us four
years to book him”) and Booka Shake has
also played at the club (“ he thanked us for
booking him” says the incredulous Lorenzo).
We're suckers for anything remotely involving
passionate-about-music folks and
these two most certaintly fi t the description.
Keep it coming! (NL)
www.dirtydancing.be

the secret papers Luxury Democracy
Luxury Democracy
The luxury of having clothes made to fi t her
was an all too familiar feeling for Ann Eyckmans,
whose mother was a gifted haute couture
seamstress. Indeed, she only had to fl ip
through Vogue’s high fashion-fi lled pages,
point out what she liked and the item would
magically materialise a few days later. This,
as well as her intimate relation to the world
of haute couture, is a feat she has sought to
recapture with the recent opening of LXP,
Antwerp’s premier luxury fashion rental boutique.
“The idea came to me during a Venetian
ball in Antwerp. I went to the renowned
Huis Baeyens to rent my gown, and thought
to myself: ‘next year I want to be able to rent
clothes straight from the catwalk, not from
three-season old collections” says Ann.
Her boutique on Hopland is a true lesson
in luxury fi tting: clean and smooth lines are
set against a black and white backdrop. Lesser
known labels such as Requiem by Derek
Lam and Jayde Collection sit alongside
more established ones as Balmain, Prada,
26 — THE THIRD WORD
Nina Ricci and Belgian Tim Van Steenbergen.
Customers pick and choose from a wide
variety of oversized bags, trimmed cocktail
dresses, lavish ballgowns and exquisitelycrafted
jewellery on the ground fl oor, making
their way up to the shop’s fi rst fl oor when
time has come to try the goodies on. “We
want to lower the threshold to the highest
form of luxury available,” says Ann “but
at the same time we don’t want to lose the
luxurious feeling that comes with it.”
Clients who prefer a discrete treatment
can make use of the secret entrance to the
shop, or they can schedule a private appointment
after hours. They are welcomed
as guests rather than customers, as Ann takes
her time with every client to advise them on
their special occasions’ ideal outfi ts. LXP
therefore is the perfect example of what has
been dubbed the slow fashion trend. Haute
couture in itself is the opposite of fast and
disposable clothing, as it takes days of manual
labour to create. It is only proper to offer
these works of art in the way Ann does: in
all tranquillity, with appropriate attention
paid to the client and in a luscious environment.
But LXP pushes the envelope by offering
it for rent and at reasonable prices.
Who could turn down Prada’s latest catwalk
styles for a fraction of the price? Didn’t
think so… (SD)
www.l-xp.com
If you want to experience the
pleasure of being bathed in
luxury for a night, and have the
opportunity of wearing Karl Lagerfeld’s
latest dress or of sporting
Balenciaga’s latest bag, here
is what you need to do: simply
email I DO with your full name,
address and date of birth to
wewrite@thewordmagazine.be.
The fi rst person to do so will
have won a pampering favour
courtesy of LXP.

the secret papers Stone Cold Chilling
Stone Cold Chilling
He’s choreographed some of the heaviestrotated
videos on MTV, has danced for
everyone from Michael Jackson to Vanilla
Ice, is in charge of choreographing the Olympic
Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing
this year and was a signed choreographer to
Nike between 1994 and 2002. And this was
after he turned 35…
The fi rst thing which springs to mind
when you meet choreographer, street dancer
and all-round legend Mr Tony Stone is his
simple, down-to-earth demeanour. Here is
a guy whose average week takes him to Germany
on Monday and Tuesday to judge a
televised dance competition, to Barcelona
the next two days to sit in on yet another
“America’s Next Superstar”-type show and
then back to Brussels before the weekend for
his much thought-after dancing classes.
Born and brought up in the Santa Monica
28 — THE THIRD WORD
area of Los Angeles, he has an American
Criminal Law degree and used to be a fl ight
attendant for Delta Airlines. He then decided
to change course entirely and joined
famed Soul hit-makers Motown as a signed
writer and producer, penning hits for everyone
from Tony Braxton to Brandy. Being at
Motown, Tony started noticing that dancing
was increasing in popularity, be it on stage
or in videos. “Michael really got the whole
world dancing with his Thriller video” he
tells us, as a way of justifying his choice. So,
as befi tting his knack for re-invention, at the
age of 35 he became a professional dancer.
When the opportunity came up for his
wife to land a job in the Spanish city of Alicante,
the couple jumped on the occasion,
backed by Tony’s fi rm belief in the potential
of video dancing - a genre mainly inspired
by MTV’s music videos – on the European
continent. Spain, however, didn’t prove to
be as hooked on video dancing as he initial-
Tony Stone 's
Choices
Michael or Prince ?
Michael
Vanilla or Chocolate ?
Vanilla
Sweet or Sour ?
Sweet
Fast Food or Organic ?
Fast Food
East or West ?
West
ly had thought: “I organised a nationwide
talent search to form a group which attracted
all of eight contestants”. Deciding on a
change of scenery, and after considering
Amsterdam, Paris and London, the couple
settled for Brussels.
“Brussels is a fantastic city to live in”
Tony says, “the international community
feeling here is the best in the world and
the city is ideally positioned for my weekly
trips abroad”. Furthermore – and this will
probably come as rather of a shock to most
of you– the couple loves the ‘four-seasonsin-a-day’
climate and the anonymity it provides.
Simply put, as Tony says, “Brussels is
the best little big city in the world”.
We’re glad our illustrious character
thinks so and hope this means he'll be
around for still some time to come. (NL)
www.tony-stone.com

the secret papers Wishful Thinking
Wishful Thinking
Need a late night fl ight out to your weekend
pad in Sardinia? Or maybe you’re the type
to forget your wedding anniversary and need
a last-minute table booked at that new gastro-glamour
eatery everyone’s been talking
about? Whatever your demand, the country’s
latest pampering craze – concierge services
– are here to cater to all your needs…
Already famous in the States, these services
have been popping up in every single
cosmopolitan city, from London to Hong
Kong. Yet it somehow took a bit longer for the
capital of Europe to jump on the bandwagon.
According to Jean-Michel Wathelet,
marketing manager of Quintessentially Belgium,
Brussels was just not ready. “Belgium
might have aristocracy, it doesn’t have a jetset.
Until recently, there wasn’t any demand
for what we had to offer.” Created in London
around 2000, Quintessentially is the worldwide
leader in this fi eld. It is now implanted
in 44 cities, but the Belgian division was
only created in late 2007.
Wondering why Brussels was deprived of
such a service, Monika Pagel founded Deelite
Living in 2006. Having worked for several
years in international fi rms, her address
book bursts with all the best contacts one
30 — THE THIRD WORD
could have. This vibrant half German half
Portuguese now works with Vincent Van
de Castelle, a true Brusseleer, who knows
the city like the back of his hand. Being the
concierge of a lobbying company for over a
decade, he has developed an amazing ability
to manage extravagant caprices with great
patience and diplomacy.
Speaking over seven languages, this dynamic
duo has a very international clientele,
composed mainly of businessmen and politicians.
Their ultimate aim: to break the taboo
of the private service business. “We really
want to reach out to as much people as
we can because all we want is to make their
lives easier!”
On the more exclusive side, meet Jean
Verheyen, a young Belgian event organizer
who single handily runs Holstars. It all started
when an embassy requested his services
for an important political fi gure. Although
he prefers not to promote his services, Jean
has an established clientele, among which
the current president of an African state. It
goes without saying that discretion, quality
of service and elegance are essential prerequisites
when dealing with this most demanding
of clienteles.
As much as these three services may seem
different in style or structure, it always comes
down to the same conclusion: time has become
a precious commodity. And one doesn’t
need to be ultra-rich to need help from them.
So next time you need a gardener in the middle
of the night, or need Justin to perform at
your daughter’s sweet-sixteen, be sure to give
these masters of the unordinary a call. (RW)
www. deeliteliving.eu
www. holstars.com
www.quintessentially.com
We wouldn’t tell you about the
joys of tailored pampering without
giving you the chance to indulge
in some yourself. To win one pampering
favour courtesy of Deelite
Living, simply email
wewrite@thewordmagazine.be
with “I Want” in the subject line
and your most original wish. The
email we deem to be the most
original REQUEST (fi nal provider
fee not included), and which we received
at the latest by midnight on
Sunday 22nd June 2008, will have
the chance to realize their wish.

open sesame
01
Inside
Anderlecht
— It’s been photographed
a considerable number
of times but never, in our
humble opinion, in this
way. For our Secret Society
issue, the doors of what is
arguably Belgium’s most
consistently successful
football club - both at
home and internationally
- magically swung wide
open. From the fans’ pit
to the control room, and
naturally passing through
sponsors’ VIP lounges,
how different and peaceful
it all looks when empty.
Photography Sarah Eechaut
Text Nicholas Lewis
32 — THE THIRD WORD
02
03

04
06
08
05
07
01. Pitch-side Coach Seat
02. Fans' Beer Stop
03. The Control Room
04. The Fortis Box's View
05. Backstage Corridors
06. The Carpet
07. Linear Seating
08. The Writing on The Wall
Inside Anderlecht open sesame
THE THIRD WORD — 33

the movers and shakers
01 02
Behind
the
Bands
— In an industry better
known for its oversized
egos and ruthless
corporate executives,
the actual players on the
fi eld – the promoters,
booking agents, press
offi cers, music critics,
radio DJ’s and managers -
are often overlooked, and
underappreciated. We
thought it was about time
to rectify the balance so
started digging deep to
bring you the country’s
music industry’s puppet
masters.
Writer Nick Amies
Photography Erwin Borms
34 — THE THIRD WORD
For many outside of Belgium, the revelation
that this small European kingdom of 10.5
million people has anything resembling a
music industry may come as something of a
surprise. The discovery that it is actually a
fountain of creativity and talent will probably
add shock to that. Incomprehensible as
it may seem, even a large section of Belgian
society is unaware of the burgeoning musical
movement its little nation plays unwitting
host to. All of which makes the movers, shakers,
Svengalis and kingmakers behind the
scenes an even more shadowy group.
These are the people who push the buttons
and pull the strings; who cadge, cajole
and convince the other players in the game
to give their band a chance or to put a name
out into the Belgian ether. They are the hidden
faces of the scene, toiling behind the
stardom not only against international indifference
but often opposition from within
their own borders. They share a common
goal and yet competition between them is
sometimes fi erce.
As befi tting a covert centre of operations,
the offi ces of 62TV Records is an unassuming
terraced house in a quiet back street of Brussels’
commune of Anderlecht. Without being
privy to its existence, one would walk past in
ignorance, blissfully unaware that the rise of
Belgian legends dEUS and current pulse raisers
Girls in Hawaii was masterminded behind
its shabby façade. Inside, 62TV shares
space and staff with distributing and producing
powerhouse Bang!, forging a partnership
which has gone on to become one of the most
infl uential in Belgian music.
Wherever you go and whoever you speak
to in the Belgian music industry, the name of
Pierre van Braekel's
Top 5
dEUS. Worst Case Scenario
Arno. Charlatan
Millionaire. Outside the Simian Flock
Les Snuls. Bien Entendu
De Portables. Girls Beware
Pierre Van Braekel will eventually crop up.
The boss of 62TV and founder of the Nada
booking agency has been a major industry
player for the past eleven years. Alongside
co-founder Philippe Decoster, van Braekel
has been instrumental in sculpting the Belgian
rock musical landscape. “Philippe and
I started off booking bands in Belgium but
soon found that when these bands got big,
they went off and started working with
larger companies,” he says. “It didn’t take us
long to realise that something was wrong so
we started up a management and recording
business and joined with Bang to create a
complete record company.”
" The whole galaxy of Bang!
has defi nitely grown
to play a huge role in the
Belgian music industry "
Thierry Coljon
Van Braekel, a former musician and communications
graduate, delved into his past
and dug up a few names which he hoped
would help get his fl edgling empire off the
ground. “At university, I interviewed a few
up-and-coming young guys in the business
as part of my thesis,” he recalls. “When we
started out here, I looked them up and people
like Thierry Coljon at Le Soir were then
making their mark.”
Coljon, now Le Soir’s music editor and
chief critic, acknowledges the impact of contacts
made in those early days. “The whole

03 04
galaxy of Bang! has defi nitely grown to play a
huge role in the Belgian music industry alongside
Le Soir,” he said. “Together they play an
important role in the start-up phase of new
artists in much the same way as Pure FM
does on the radio and Le Botanique and the
other cultural centres do on the live scene.”
While Coljon and others played their part
in the early rise of 62TV/Bang!, one chance
encounter changed things more than any other,
not just for the company but the whole of
the Belgian rock scene. “We’d been putting on
our bands in Brussels for a while when I met a
guy from Le Botanique at a gig,” Van Braekel
remembers. “It was ten, fi fteen years ago and
at the time Le Botanique was just a chanson
venue. We got talking and he offered us a
space. They provided the PA and the lights
and we booked the bands. That’s how Le
Botanique became a rock venue and how we
brought bigger and bigger bands to Brussels.”
The man whose chance encounter with
Van Braekel led to the establishment of one
of the premier rock venues in Belgium and
helped launch one of its most successful independent
labels was Paul-Henri Wauters.
“When we started 20 years ago, we relied
very much on the local energy and the people
creating that. I think this is normal when
you establish something,” Le Botanique’s
artistic director says. “You gather people
around you who are dynamic and want to
be part of this new thing. You build it up
together over a number of years and it is a
process that never ends. The people and the
situation are ever-changing but these foundations
you build remain.”
Wauters believes that Brussels in particular
is unique in terms of networks due to the
cultural diversity in Belgium and the many
international communities which thrive in
the crossroads of Europe. Most important,
he says, is the connection between Le Botanique,
the cultural centre of the Frenchspeaking
community in the capital, and the
Ancienne Belgique, its Flemish counterpart.
“We work together and we have the same
mission: to give local bands a chance to
get recognised on the international scene,”
Wauters explains. “Once a year we host a
small Belgian festival and we decide on
that together. Other times during the year
we have the situation where we have a band
which can attract a good audience and we
put them on at the AB one day and then the
next they’re on here at Le Botanique and
we make an integrated promotion for that.
These events can only be achieved through
cooperation. We have much more to share
than to fi ght against.”
" When we started 20 years
ago, we relied on the local
energy and the people
creating that "
Paul-Henri Wauters
Le Botanique’s innovative collaboration
with the Ancienne Belgique is central to a
new and stable support network between
the capital’s venues. But it wasn’t always that
way. “About ten years ago, the atmosphere
in Brussels was very weird,” says Kurt Overbergh,
Wauters’ Flemish counterpart at the
Behind the Bands the movers and shakers
Ancienne Belgique. “Everyone was very secluded
in their own venues and determined
to defend their own territory in a very unhealthy
way. But in the last fi ve years there
has been an increase in very intriguing collaborations
between the venues. The set-up
with le Botanique would never have been
possible a decade ago.”
According to Overbergh, the network
built up between the venues could not operate
if not for the links they have built up with
the managers and booking agencies. “There
is a real network with the venues in Brussels
and throughout Belgium right now. But to
organise anything with the bands you need
the community of managers, tour managers
and agencies. Working together in a network
makes you stronger. We have a common goal
to make the cultural landscape of Belgium
a better place. It’s a very beautiful time for
cooperation.”
01. 62TV's Pierre Van Braekel
02. Bang! the Door
03. Botanique's Paul-Henri Wauters
04. Botanique's Offi ces
THE THIRD WORD — 35

the movers and shakers Behind the Bands
05
Bernard Moisse has a different, less utopian
view of the scene. A promoter with ten
years of experience working with everyone
from home-grown acts Ghinzu and Montevideo
to international ones such as Robotsin-Disguise
and Erinn Williams under his
belt, Moisse has a more pragmatic outlook.
“I have regular contact with Le Soir, (Belgian
magazine) Télémoustique, with Bang,
with lots of labels and managers but it is
not really a connection,” he says. “It is normal
and it is necessary to have contact with
these people when you work in the music industry.
They are the players and if you want
to play too you have to work with them. You
don’t have a choice. It’s like family – you
can choose your friends but you can’t choose
your family. They are there and you have
to be with them. You may not like it all the
time but that is how it is.”
Thierry Coljon’s network of industry
players has changed over the years but the
teams have stayed the same. He still deals
mainly with the promotional managers of
the record companies who set up interviews
with him and provide material for reviews,
although most of those he started out with
are no longer in the game.
“I’ve been in this business for 25 years, I
36 — THE THIRD WORD
was the fi rst full time rock critic at Le Soir
and all the promo guys I worked with in
the 1980’s have since been fi red,” he said.
“Record companies these days see this job as
a young man’s game so I now deal with a lot
of fresh faces. Trouble is, some of these guys
may be able to speak three languages but a
few know absolutely nothing about music.”
" There is an established
scene in Belgium which
is archaic and doesn’t like
change "
Coljon now works in closer contact with
the bands in Belgium. “This is a small country
and you get to meet the bands more” he
said. “After forming initial links with the
artists, I now work more directly with them,
but only the Belgian bands – similar to those
signed to majors in the UK and US - are
harder to get in touch with.”
Francois Fabri, manager of up-and-coming
bright young things The Vismets, has
06
François Fabri
Kurt Overbergh’s
Top 5
Tc Matic. Choco
dEUS. Worst Case Scenario
Jacques Brel
The Neon Judgement. 1981-1984
Mauro. Songs From a Bad Hat
had many positive experiences working in
the multi-layered Belgian music community
but while he speaks glowingly of the advantages
of networking, Fabri also believes that
there are cliques within the wider community
which actually oppose collaboration
and create barriers.
“There is an established scene and
network in Belgium which is archaic and
doesn’t like change,” Fabri says. “There are
some people in this established circle who
criticize new bands openly without justifi -
cation. This is a group of guys from the generation
before us who are protecting their
status, their acts” he claims. “But they are
eventually going to have to let go. There are
so many young managers, bands and promoters
coming through, that in fi ve to ten
years this old guard are going to have to step
aside. You have to give these guys credit because
they really pushed Belgian music forward
but now they have to make way for a
new generation.”
Bernard Moisse agrees. “There is some opposition,
yes. Sometimes someone will say, ‘I
work with this guy and no other agency’. They
have their own people and they have built a
relationship and trust with this agency, and
that’s cool, but that sometimes stops bands

07 08
working with another promoter, getting into a
venue or getting on a radio show.”
Despite confl icting opinions on the nature
of the industry’s inner-working and behind-the-scenes
cliques, everyone involved
says that to stay in the game, you have to play
by the rules.
“It can be a lot of fun, but these relationships
are business relationships and if you
want to work with these people and continue
to work with them, you have to be professional,”
says Bernard Moisse. “Everybody is
important; the musicians, the managers, the
venues… Everybody plays a role in making
the record or the show and what happens after
that. It’s important to have a good relationship
with everyone.”
“It is a small country, everyone knows
each other and word of your approach spreads
quickly,” adds Vismets manager Fabri. “If
you’re reliable, people take notice and then
want to work with you. Promoters and venues
respond to the fact that this project is
good, this manager and this band are reliable
and they’ll turn up and pay the bills. If you
can get into the circle you will only stay there
and earn respect by being respectful.”
Behind the Bands the movers and shakers
05. Ancienne Belgique's Kurt Overbergh
06. Ancienne Belgique's Reading Material
07. Progress' Bernard Moisse
08. Progress' Backstage Essentials
THE THIRD WORD — 37

ack in the days
The
Early Bird
— He’s been around for as long as we can remember, is
responsible for bringing some of the world’s biggest Hip Hop
acts to the country as well as single-handedly putting Belgium
on the global musical map. Alex Deforce and Julien Mourlon
spend a Sunday afternoon with illustrious soulster Lefto and are
pleased to fi nally fi nd someone who made judicious use of VHS’.
Writers Alex Deforce and Julien Mourlon
38 — THE THIRD WORD

Let’s Go Back, Way Back.
Back Into Time.
The eighties are running to their end and
with that, the golden era of Hip Hop is peeking
around the corner. Whilst groups like De
La Soul weren’t particularly big in Belgium,
home-grown pioneers like Benni B and Daddy
K were schooling Belgium’s future b-boys
in Hip Hop culture. “10 Qu’on Aime” was the
name of the generation’s television show and
it had the young Lefto glued to the screen.
“They got me interested in the whole
style, I had the same shirt they had, checked
their shoes and everything” explains the DJ.
“Back then, I also made mixtapes with songs
I’d record from television. You had Yo!MTV
Raps on and I didn’t know where to get that
music. I don’t even know if it was available
around here. So I made mixtapes to listen to
in the car and to give out to friends.”
“Every day started with music, the same
routine always put into play: wake up, go
downstairs, have some breakfast, go to school”
says Lefto “and this, always to the sound of
my father’s music, from Jazz to France Gall”.
The family lived in Ternat, so the 40 minutes
drive to the young music-lover’s school
was always accompanied by the likes of Stan
Gets, Miles Davis and others.
Whilst at high school, Lefto met Akro
(ex-member of Belgian Hip Hop outfi t Starfl
am) who got him into mixing and, ultimately,
into Hip Hop. “We were headlining
the yearly prom night at Jette’s Atheneum”
he proudly says.
At the time, graffi ti was the occupation of
choice for most young urbanites and Lefto
quickly become acquainted with Brussels’
P50 crew. “I usually was the guy on the
look-out. We hit subway stations by night,
sometimes taking scaffolds with us, and I
was there to check if there wasn’t any police
creeping up on us”. His knack for being the
fi rst one awake after nights spent out in the
cold in deserted subway stations and empty
train yards gave him his nickname: Lefto.
A name soon lent to his fi rst and self titled
radioshow: The Lefto Show, on local radio
station Radio Action. From six till eight in
the morning, Lefto was on air for all fellow
early birds in the city, although not all the way
live… “I pre-recorded the show on mini-disc
so I wasn’t actually there” remembers Lefto
“ but my colleague Rim-K was in the Stockel
studio every morning though”. The show got
a lot of response, especially from school kids
on their way to class in the morning…
True to his ubiquitous nature, our man
of many styles soon found himself behind
the counter at what was arguably – until its
recent closure – the country’s Holly Mecca
to any music afi cionados: Brussels’ Music
Mania record shop. “I used to work for the
European Parliament, as third secretary
for Minister Willy De Clercq, and after my
nine-to-fi ve I’d run to Music Mania to buy
records. Since I was a regular customer,
I could go behind the counter and check
out the records that weren’t yet put in the
shelves. So when a man one day asked me
for a certain record, I gave it to him, because
I knew my way around there. The shop owner
stepped up to me and said I should come
and work with him”. Lefto quit his job the
next day and the rest is history…
" Some bigger DJ’s
sometimes ask me for tips
because they don’t know
what happens outside
anymore "
A quick glance at his busy schedule, and
we fi nd it hard to believe our man still isn’t
living of his music – he still works a threeday-a-week
job at Footlocker, partly to feed
his sneaker addiction. Seen from our perspective,
Lefto has everything to gain by
quitting his daytime job and go for a fulltime
DJ career… “I could but it’s though, you
never really know with DJ’ing. Plus I don’t
want to lose the contact with the streets.
The Early Bird back in the days
If you stay in your studio all day long, you
might not feel it anymore. Some bigger DJ’s
sometimes ask me for tips because they don’t
know what happens outside anymore”.
For almost an hour now, we’ve been talking
about music, surrounded by thousands
of records, a stack of mixing gear, boxes of
old mixtapes and demos. On the ground we
spot a couple of piles of new cd’s. Presumably
promo copies sent out to be played on
the radio. Going through all of that seems
like a dreadful task, one might want to hire
an assistant for. That, however seems unnecessary.
“Usually the cover shows if the album’s
quality or not. If you have good taste
for music, you have good taste for artwork.
But there are exceptions to that, of course.
With some albums the music’s brilliant, the
cover’s shit. It’s a shame, really.”
And with that bit of advice, we shake on it
and leave the man in his studio…
www.lefto.be
DJ Lefto has a residency with
Appletree Records in Amsterdam
and will be playing at Giles
Peterson’s Worldwide Festival
this summer in Sete, France.
His radio show De Hop can
also be heard on Studio Brussel
every Thursday night from
22h00.
THE THIRD WORD — 39

the institution
The Man
Down Under
— In the preface to
“Brüsel”, the ninth
publication of famed
Belgian comic “Les
Cités Obscures”, writers
Schuiten and Peeters
warn us: by loosing its
very essence, Brussels lost
its soul. The “essence”
they refer to is the Senne,
a 103 km long river of
which 45 km used to swirl
across Brussels’ centre
area before being covered
up and buried like a longforgotten
fi lthy old lady in
the 19th and 20th century.
The truth is, since the
completion of new sewage
treatment plants in March
2007, the old lady is
today much cleaner,
alive and fl owing. And if
you know where to meet
her, you will fi nd that
Brussels’s soul is hidden
underground.
Writer Jacques Moyersoen
40 — THE THIRD WORD
The Covering of the Senne
At the beginning of the 19 th century, Brussels,
and in particular the lower parts of town,
was in many ways still a very medieval city,
characterized not only by the course of the
Senne, but also by an illogical street layout,
hard to access islands, back alleys, narrow
streets, unregulated bridges, and numerous
dead ends. Although this may today sound
charming, it did at the time trigger its own
set of problems, and not only traffi c-wise.
The Senne had since long lost its usefulness
as a navigable waterway, being replaced by
canals. And no one ever dreamed of catching
a fi sh in the once pure clear river. In fact,
its main purpose was as a dump for garbage,
detritus and industrial waste spreading pestilential
odours throughout the city. Early
in the second half of the 19th century, Brussels
saw numerous dry periods, fl oods and
a cholera epidemic, caused as much by the
river itself as by the poverty and the lack of
hygiene and potable water in the lower city.
This forced the government to act.
In 1867, after much debate, mayor Jules
Anspach decided to cover up the Senne.
Constructed from bricks, the covering was
to be 2.2 kilometres long and was to consist
of two parallel 6 m (20 ft) wide tunnels, and
a set of two lateral drainage pipes, each taking
in wastewater from its respective side of
the street. Inspired by Haussmann’s renovation
of Paris, it served the mayor’s ambitious
plan to transform the impoverished lower
city in a more modern, business-friendly
centre. The elimination of the numerous
alleys and dead-ends in the lower town in
favour of straight, wide and open-air boulevards
– thus linking the city’s two rapidly
growing train stations - seemed both a necessity
and an opportunity to beautify the
city and improve both traffi c circulation
and hygiene. The project, which expropriated
tens of thousands of homes and took
four years to complete, created the series
of boulevards we today know as Maurice
Lemonnier Boulevard, Anspach Boulevard,
Adolphe Max Boulevard, and Emile Jacqmain
Boulevard.
The covering up was completed in 1930
when the Senne was channelled into subterranean
tunnels for nearly its entire course
through the Brussels metropolitan area.
A Smelly Promenade
Today, Brussels’ network of drains, sewers,
and drainage pipes forms an underground
maze of about 350 kilometres. It is so vast
and complex that an experienced visitor
could walk from the capital’s Central Sta-
tion to Arlon, on the country’s southernwestern
tip, without ever stepping outside.
Complete with its own underground street
sign, explorers travel through tunnels of various
shapes and structures, refl ecting years
of development: stone, brick, and then concrete.
It is a city within a city, a dank, fascinating
demimonde from which one emerges
blinking and mesmerised.
Sewers are a true museum of horrors
too. Home to the most repugnant fauna, the
drains also prove to be the ideal refuge for
rats. It is thought that two million of them
(the equivalent of two rats per habitant)
wander Brussels’ underground, eating one
third of all the fl oating waste. And they can
be big! Up to 50cm long. Small shrimps,
mussels, aquatic snails and tribes of cockroaches
are also to be found in disgusting
quantity. However, unlike in New York and
Paris nobody has yet been senseless enough
to fl ush a baby alligator down the toilet! Until
ten years ago, the sewers were also a theatre
to a strange spectacle. Every Tuesday and
Thursday the wastewater took a bloody-red
taint because it was slaughtering day at the
Anderlecht’s Cureghem abattoirs.
Exploring these mysterious paths of darkness
and insalubrities may bring excitement to
some but it is actually illegal. Thankfully, the
Brussels Sewer Museum, manages to feed our
curiosity for the city’s unknown secrets with
a safe and quite hygienic alternative. Unfairly
overlooked, the freshly revamped museum
offers three levels of historical and technical
explanations. And if you can stand the smell,
there’s even an access to an illuminated and
cleaned section of Brussels’ underground
world of drains and sewers. It is also the only
place in Brussels where you can offi cially lay
your eyes on the covered Senne. What makes
the experience even more fun is that the
guides you can book to walk you through are
all authentically jolly sewer workers.
A Dangerous Job
Guy Delvallée, the man now responsible for
the Brussels Sewer Museum, worked during
ten years maintaining the sewers, drains
and the Senne clean. There are no studies
to become égoutiers, so he learned everything
on the job. He recalls: “It is tough
physically and mentally working 8-hours a
day down there. There’s 98 to 100% humidity
so you’re quickly prone to rheumatism.
Also, during winter you spend entire days
without ever seeing the daylight. Eventually,
like a vampire, you end up avoiding all
contact with daylight because it is too bright
for your non-accommodated eyes to stand!

©Jack Moyersoen
Guy Delvallée handled a wagon-van just like the one displayed at the Brussels Sewer Museum during 10 years.
This medieval-like tool is still used today to scrape all the city’s drainpipes from the accumulated detritus and wastes.
Thankfully, I quickly got used to the odour.
Nowadays, I don’t smell anything when I’m
down there for visits.” Then there’s also the
noise: a constant reverberating background
of street noises (cars, buses, and metros)
with frequent loud bangs caused by the vehicles
running over the metal plates covering
the sewers entrance at street-level.
The job can also become pretty dangerous.
“In 1988, a colleague drowned in a
drain due to a sudden increase of the water
levels. His body was found dead one week
later several kilometres further down the
pipes.” In addition, there are infections and
explosions hazards. This is why sewer workers
wear not only a helmet, gloves, a torch,
and special boots, but are also equipped
with a mandatory gas detection device
that warns them of any abnormal levels of
oxygen, carbon monoxide, explosives gases
(such as methane), and Hydrogen sulphide.
You might think that theirs is a stinking
job, but to compensate for the harsh working
conditions and daily risks, the City of Brussels
grant their underground employees with
several fi nancial bonuses and a lifelong free
medical treatment for the whole family in all
of the city’s hospital. The pension starts at
60 years old (and might be brought down to
55) and they get a minimum of 36 days of
holidays per year paid at 95% of their salary.
Brussels’ entire drain and sewer system is
currently taken care by 80 brave égoutiers.
From Repulsion to Attraction
Discovering that the river that once contributed
to the creation of the city of Brussels
is now fl owing beside our household and
industrial wastewater can be at fi rst disturbing.
But the repulsion that the cloak exerts on
man probably stems from its symbolism. The
depth refers to the primitive place, a return
to roots, to our humanity. Yes, rich or poor,
we are all human beings under the sewer’s
law. The distance from the proceeds of our
natural functions merely blurs the ridicule
and the modesty of our lives. In India, only
the Untouchables are allowed to drain wastewater.
In that sense, it is easy to understand
why the public, have little interest in cloaks
of all kinds. However, learning to appreciate
the hidden spectacle of waste management acknowledges
our respect to man’s humble condition
and puts us in good terms with the most
secret aspect of our condition. After all, it is
the place where Brussels’ soul is hidden…
The Man Down Under the institution
Brussels Sewer Museum
Porte d'Anderlechtsepoort
1000 Brussels
www.brucity.be
We have fi ve of the criticallyacclaimed
comic “Brüsel”
to give away. All you need to do
is send an email to
wewrite@thewordmagazine.be
with “Brüsel” in the subject line
with your full name, address
and date of birth. The fi rst fi ve
readers to do so will each win a
copy of the cartoon.
THE THIRD WORD — 41

three of the best
Luxury
Shopping Bags
— Heavy-duty shopaholics such as ourselves often end up with
more shopping bags than we know what to do with. This, in
turn, has made of us experts of some sort in the art of luxury
packaging, to the extent that we now sometimes look more
forward to receiving the packaged goods than the actual goods
themselves. In the following of our series on visual goodies, we
bring you three of our favourite luxury shopping bags… and
those we simply couldn’t leave out.
Writer Nicholas Lewis
2.
Maison
Martin Margiela
Name
The Subtle
Designed by
Creative Director
Martin Margiela
Made of
Cloth
Made in
France
Comes in
Extra small, small, medium
and large
Why we chose it
For its confi dence and simplicity
What we’d fi ll them up with
Margiela’s Eleven Dollar Bill
wallet and white violon-shaped
canvas bag
42 — THE THIRD WORD
1.
Delvaux
Name
The Eye-Catcher
Designed by
Creative Director
Didier Vervaeren
Made of
Paper,
with Silver Aluminium Varnish
Made in
Belgium
Comes in
Extra extra small, extra small,
small, medium, large and extra
large
Why we chose it
For its subdued glossiness
What we’d fi ll them up with
Delvaux’s glazed goat Coquin
MM bag and their Triangle
Boulevard silk scarf
3.
Chine Collection
Name
The Innovator
Designed by
Creative Director
Guillaume Thys
Made of
Paper
Made in
Belgium
Comes in
Small, medium and large
Why we chose it
For its texture and elegance
…and those we simply couldn’t leave out (clockwise from left):
Diesel, Olivier Strelli, Essentiel, Francis Ferrent, Own, PH, Balthazar, Hermes, Houben, Zadig & Voltaire
What we’d fi ll them up with
Chine Collection’s linen cotton
trench and silk linen dress

Photography & Styling: Opération Panda - www.operationpanda.be
Luxury Shopping Bags three of the best
THE THIRD WORD — 43

ehind closed doors
Do You
Remember
the
First Time ?
— Do you remember those dreams that you had when
you were a kid, where you found yourself in your own
house at night, padding about through the dim deserted
rooms until, when you reached the top of the stairs, you
found a door that wasn’t usually there? As you stepped
through that door, the decor went polychrome, and you
suddenly realised that there was a parallel, brighter,
wilder, world beyond the vision of normal people, yet
somehow accessible from within your own house. Some
people never forget that door. Some people cross through
it all the time, leading one life in the public world, the
other through a private sexual alter ego. We talk to three
people about crossing the threshold, and ask them…
Writer Hettie Judah
44 — THE THIRD WORD

Rafaela
Rafaela is the pen name for the librarian of
the SensOtheque, a virtual library of erotica,
who for many years kept an erotic blog
called Bitterzoet (bittersweet). She has a
regular professional and family life and in
her sexual alter ego of Rafaela is a committed
polyamorist who enjoys experimenting
with power and fantasy.
“One day, several years ago, whilst doing research
for my Bitterzoet blog, I began reading
‘The Story of O’ by Pauline Réage. I was
really struck by it. It moved me, it excited
me, it made me long for a similar experience.
But my partner at the time was really a
vanilla (01) one, who couldn’t be less interested
in this masquerade of whips and torture.
" Why is there so much
adultery, why so many
divorces? Why all this
pain and this disillusion? "
At the same time I met a man who also
dreamt about his own O to love and to make
suffer, the bittersweet combination of pain
and lust. We talked for days, weeks, months,
and went on to have a very passionate affair
for several years.
During that same period, I was reading
‘Venus in Furs’ by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch.
Again I was tickled by this kind of relationship,
I saw myself as a 21 st century Venus
in Furs. Once more this was not the role my
life partner would be able to assume. Luckily
a painter friend and intellectual companion
told me, after several years of knowing him,
and right at the time of my reading the book,
that he felt a true lust to be my submissive, to
fulfi l my wishes and my orders. This marked
the onset of our contemporary incarnation
of Wanda and Severin.
Going through all this taught me one
thing: thinking that you’ll be able to develop
every aspect of your personality together
with one partner is simply impossible. And
it’s even more unattainable to hide and withstand
your heterogeneous longings for the
rest of your life; you’ll only become sad and
unfulfi lled. Through Bitterzoet I met loads
of people who were looking for another relationship
next to the one they already had
(usually through marriage). Therefore I’ve
read a heap of books about polyamory, like
‘The ethical slut’ and all kinds of sites about
this alternative way of looking at love and
relationships.
It was a real eye-opener. Why is there so
much adultery, why so many divorces? Why
all this pain and this disillusion? After going
through a diffi cult (though valuable)
process of several years together with my
primary partner, we’re now true followers of
the polyamory (02) philosophy. It’s so liberating,
and at the same time bonding. We have
a more open but also a deeper relationship
than many couples around us. Besides my
partner I have had several secondary and
tertiary relationships. And my partner has
the opportunity to have other sexual and/
or spiritual partners. We’re open about it
and feel really happy for each other, even if
Do You Remember the First Time ? behind closed doors
there’s a new love introduced. It’s not always
easy, as you’re dealing with the stubborn
emotion of jealousy, but it is such enrichment
for your love and lust life.”
www.sensotheque.com
01. Vanilla
Favouring ‘conventional’ sexual practices
02. Polyamory
Open and consenting practice
of having two or more simultaneous
love relationships
THE THIRD WORD — 45
© Yassin Serghini

ehind closed doors Do You Remember the First Time ?
Monsieur Reçoit
Monsieur Reçoit was born in Switzerland
and studied drama in Paris and Brussels.
He lives and works in Brussels and has a
sideline organising high-end private fetish
parties.
“From the earliest age I loved dressing up
in uniform. There is a huge erotic power
to them; in my imagination I wanted to be
a soldier. In Switzerland there are uniforms
everywhere; my grandparents were offi cers,
and my father too.
" Wearing a uniform that
represents power, hate and
death makes other people
desire life and sex. "
With the fantasies I had with my girlfriends
when I was 18 or 20 I realised that I
had the impulse to domination. At this young
age I met the big love of my life, and she was
also a dominatrix. We always made a point
of wearing wonderful outfi ts; we were very
lucky, most people have to wait until they
are older to realise this side of themselves.
A good relationship between master and
servant is based on listening and respect.
I also had to try submission. If I were the
trainer of a soccer team it wouldn’t work if
I had never played football. I always want to
see how it is and try new things, but most of
the time my positions is as a straight dominator.
At a party it’s the same as in my relationships,
but it’s always fun to try something
new. Once I switched outfi ts with my
girlfriend. My friends didn’t recognise me;
it was very special.
Fetishism is a thing you do in your relationship
– even without rubber or leather. It
can simply be the words you use or the opposition
of master and servant. Normally
I am quite a gentle person, but when I’m
in disguise it’s another character. At fetish
parties there are a lot of rules; if you wear a
necklace with a ring it means you are a servant
looking for a master, if you wear a uniform
it means you are a dominator. Private
parties are very respectful; all people care
about is the expression of desire and beauty.
There is a lot of connection with religion
and old fantasies linked to priests and martyrs.
I meet a lot of people who had a heavy
Catholic education, so this is something like
a catharsis, it is quite liberating.
46 — THE THIRD WORD
Every thing we do in life is directed by
the two impulses of life and death. For me,
fetishism is the art of expressing this paradox.
Wearing a uniform that represents
power, hate and death makes other people
desire life and sex.
The uniform was the most suitable representation
of how I felt. If you take a lucid look
at yourself you realise that there’s quite a lot
of narcissism and egocentricity involved.
Some people live within the whole system; I
know one man in his 50s who has moved his
30-year-old dominatrix in to live with him
and his wife. But for me fetishism is just one
part of my life; it’s not my whole life.”
© Geneviève Balasse

Eve Mansion
Eve Mansion lives in Brussels’ affl uent suburb
of Uccle. She enjoys running and playing the
violin, and in her spare time paints portraits
in oil. A few years ago she converted one side
of her home into a professional dungeon.
“For fi ve years I had an erotic massage salon.
I had trauma in my childhood and wanted to
reconcile myself with men and get to know
them better; in this I succeeded. I’m a hyperactive
person; I always have a lot of energy,
and I had noticed that doing sport alone was
not enough to kill that energy. A friend of
mine who worked at an échangiste (01) club
suggested that SM (02) would bring me balance
– sport is just physical, but SM is more
mental – he said that to him I had always
seemed SM, I just didn’t know it yet.
" The physical act of love
is nothing more than that,
and not interesting in
itself. "
I started reading about SM and I immediately
recognised myself in what I was reading.
I have quite hard sexual fantasies: it struck me
that the scenarios and fantasies described in the
books were things that already existed in my
mind. SM is an intellectual sexuality. The most
sexual people are cerebral. I discovered that I
was like that – the physical act of love is nothing
more than that, and not interesting in itself.
Soon afterwards I created my own
dungeon (03) . With any project I work with the
motto “from the day you start your business,
behave as if you were already at the top” but
in truth I was very nervous. In a scene lasting
an hour you cannot have any blank spaces, it
is very exhausting. You also have to be sensitive
to what is happening physically and not
leave submissives fi xed in one position for
too long. In reality the dominatrix is in service
to the dominee – they invite you to be in
control of the session. The most diffi cult part
of SM is the verbal side. I don’t use many instruments
– I will perhaps carry a whip as an
accessory, but most of what I do is verbal.
I have a certain capacity for playfulness,
and my dungeon has become my stage set.
With each session I have the satisfaction of
having created something. What’s good with
SM is that you have to constantly challenge
yourself and discover new things. It has given
me another level of self-assurance. I’m like a
rock now – I’m not embarrassed of anything.
A dominatrix has to have a certain age, particular
intellectual faculties and experience; the
men you dominate are not nobodies, they’re
lawyers and CEOs, for them submission is the
opposite of their life in the outside world.
In my private relationships I like both
domination and submission – I need a man
who can put me in my place, but in my professional
relationships I would never let myself
be dominated.”
Do You Remember the First Time ? behind closed doors
01. Exchangiste
Swingers or couples who engage sexually
with other couples or individuals
02. SM
Sadomasochism or sadomasochistic sexuality.
03. Dungeon
Room created specifi cally for SM play,
often with expensive specialised equipment
THE THIRD WORD — 47
© Geneviève Balasse

the culture briefi ng
Creative
Accountancy
— Belgium’s art collectors
are discreet in the
extreme, and none more
so than the banks. Hettie
Judah tries to get to the
bottom of the corporate
quest for a perfect private
collection
Writer Hettie Judah
Photography Sarah Michielsen
@ Outlandish
As the international press fl ew over to Beijing
to visit the new Ullens Centre for Contemporary
Art last November, correspondents
expressed surprise that so large and
important a collection of works was at that
point so little known. In the UK and US, at
least, those who buy art tend to want to publicise
the fact. Serious collectors often open
specially designed annexes or host events
in which the public can view their stash in
situ, and many enjoy the high profi le that
involvement with the art world can bring.
But to Guy Ullens’ compatriots, there was
nothing particularly mysterious about the
low-fat magnate’s preference for a low profi
le. As one critic put it matter-of-factly to a
journalist from The Times; “ in Belgium our
collectors are very secretive.”
48 — THE THIRD WORD
01
" Belgian collections may
be hidden from public view,
but many of them are
bulging at the seams
with little sign
of losing their appetite
for new works. "
“Collectors here are extremely signifi cant
on a global level,” explains art advisor Augustin
Dusfrane from his discreet gallery
space in Uccle. “There has always been a
huge culture of collecting, whether Renaissance
furniture, or 20 th Century art. Ullens
started collecting Chinese art before any
Chinese collectors, it has since become very
fashionable and the market price very high.
But most collections are completely private;
they are usually not shown.”
Belgian collections may be hidden from
public view, but many of them, and those of
Belgium’s banks in particular, are bulging at
the seams with little sign of losing their appetite
for new works. Ullens’ Chinese art collection,
now housed in its own world-class gallery,
contains about 1,300 pieces. By contrast
the collection of Belgian art owned by Belgian
bank Dexia carries well over 4,500 works,
with the pick of pieces from the last 150 years
displayed in an exquisite, completely private,
gallery on the top two fl oors of its building on
Brussels’ Boulevard Pachéco Laan.
© SABAM

Dexia’s is the country’s largest private
collection, built on the fruits of the three fi -
nancial institutions that make up parts of the
current bank: Paribas, Bacob and Gemeentekrediet.
Focussing on works from Belgium
and by Belgian artists, the visible collection
includes important works by René Magritte,
James Ensor, Constant Permeke, Gustave
and Leon de Smet, Paul Delvaux and Rik
Wouters as well as major pieces by contemporary
luminaries like Luc Tuymans and Jan
Fabre. Dexia sits at the top of the tree and
works to maintain its position. “In the collection
of work from 1860 to 1960 I look at
what we have and what is missing,” explains
curator Patricia Jaspers. “We are buying to
complete [the collection] and give a good
idea of all the movements in Belgium.”
" Many art dealers
consider the status and
social whirl of the art
world to have worked
some major mojo with
corporate collectors. "
Off-site, the bank also holds a signifi -
cant collection of Flemish Renaissance and
Baroque works, headed up by two major
paintings by Rubens, and an exquisite classical
tableau by Jan Breugel I. Here, at least
Jaspers’ completist urges are satisfi ed. “We
are not buying any more for the 16 th and 17 th
century collections; we have very good and
important pieces.” She pauses, then adds, by
way of reassurance “…but we are still buying
contemporary art.”
Dexia gives Jaspers an annual acquisition
budget, and although she won’t disclose
the amount, one gets the impression that she
gets what she wants. “I am really collecting
Belgian art, and in the end you know who is
involved in this aspect of the market. I am
not willing to buy because of the budget;”
she explains. “The piece has to be good for
the collection.”
Much of this private hoard of artworks
is distributed among the various offi ces and
boardrooms of Dexia bureaux nationwide,
but as Jasper describes it, the collection has
a kind of unity. An evident perfectionist, her
self-appointed role in the life of the modern
collection seems rendering it a kind of absolute
thing in itself – an impeccable portrait of
Belgian art and its various movements from
02
1860 to the present day. The creation of the
perfect collection has become in turn her artwork,
and she admits to having bad dreams
about what might happen to the fragile masterpiece
when she is no longer there looking
after it; “when I walk out of the door I don’t
want to hear of pieces being put in the cellar.”
When bankers dream of the art world, are
they lured by visions of bohemian freedom,
record auction prices or the bosoms and bling
of the parties at Art Basel Miami? Many art
dealers consider the status and social whirl
of the art world to have worked some major
mojo with corporate collectors. “The art
world is becoming more and more mixed with
money and parties,” says art historian Pick
Keobandith who works with sculpture dealers
QuArt. “The VIP events at something
Creative Accountancy the culture briefi ng
03
THE THIRD WORD — 49
© SABAM

the culture briefi ng Creative Accountancy
04
like the Armory show in New York are more
to do with a style of living where wealthy people
have to show themselves. At Art Basel
Miami they organise $ 1000-a-head private
dinners. I don’t blame people for earning
money like this, but where’s the art?”
As the contemporary art market stays
steamy, ownership of the hot stuff is a ticket
into an exclusive club, albeit one with its own
world of complications. The commitment of
serious funds can give you a passport to studio
visits and art school shows, the right to
get smug(er) and rich(er) speculating on new
talent and perhaps a mantelpiece lined with
stiff invitations to jet-set art events.
There is of course a catch; with no shortage
of buyers for the best pieces, money
alone is no longer enough. Gallerists have
become wary of fl ashy purchasers. With
their eye on the long term, anyone who provides
artists with good representation will
keep them away from collectors with a reputation
for speculation. Respected galleries
don’t want their clients’ work to be sold off
at a massive profi t at auction, only to crash
down in price a few years later when the glitter
crowd moves on to a hot new talent.
Gallerists like Frank Demaegd of Antwerp's
Zeno-X can now afford to pick the
purchasers rather than the other way round,
and certainly in the early years of an artist’s
career, they want to make sure that the work
goes into collections with a good reputation.
“At this point galleries won’t just sell to anyone,”
agrees Augustin Dusfrane. “It doesn’t
depend on the money it depends on who
50 — THE THIRD WORD
you are. They only want the best for the best
artists. It’s a bit elitist, but that’s how it is.”
Having a fat wallet is not enough; for the opportunity
to buy art, you need to provide evidence
of a proper motive, and guarantee that
your new purchase will only hang out with
respectable company.
" The rather
unmentionable truth
is that most companies’
art collections start life
as a means to cheer up
drab offi ce space. "
The rather unmentionable truth is that
most companies’ art collections start life as a
means to cheer up drab offi ce space. But these
days anyone who uses the phrase ‘decorative’
in the same sentence as the word ‘art’ receives
an automatic life ban from the big boys' serious
art world club, which means that you
are no longer allowed to refer to the Sol Le-
Witt that you just picked up for € 175,000
as ‘a little something that you brought in to
cheer up the lobby’. Major collections (and
who would wish to have a minor one?) need
not only a niche but a raison d’etre; one of
the founding principles of the Paribas (now
Dexia) collection was to stop important Belgian
works from leaving the country, that of
05
Cera (the mother holding of KBC) is in part
dedicated to re-assessing the careers of overlooked
artists of the last century.
Taking to heart the idea that custodianship
of creative works is meant to be important
rather than fun, many curators of
corporate collections abide by a rather stern
vision of art as somehow rather improving,
to be taken like doses of cultural cod-liver
oil. Their employers, they reason, occupy
something of a parallel universe, scuttling
© SABAM

06
up and down the elevators of their glass and
steel anthills and hanging out with people
who wear a lot of serge and fl annel.
Curator Patricia dePeuter describes the
contemporary collection she has created for
ING Belgium as one based around themes of
non-materialism and the individual. “When
people work for ten or fi fteen years in a system
that is very codifi ed and hierarchical, it
is important to show them that artists act as
individuals in society. They have their own
system of thinking and expressing themselves.”
On one wall of the lobby of ING’s
head offi ce dePeuter has hung a vast, gentle
picture of a young woman clasping herself
tightly in a ball. Rendered in fragile colour
pencil by the young German artist Anja
Shrey, dePeuter hopes that the piece will have
a humanising infl uence on the corporate environment,
and help those who feel isolated
reconsider their key role as part of a group.
Listening to some curators discussing art’s
wholesome infl uence on the workplace, one
imagines meek, grey suited gentlemen being
subjected to sessions of spiritual improvement
in the hostile face of contemporary
culture; Stern curator: So, we are assembled
now in front of a piece from Antony Gormley’s
Quantum Cloud Series. (She pauses to
look over her audience and notices a portly,
somewhat distracted balding chap trying
to make himself invisible at the back of the
crowd). Ah, Mr Hoffstra from accounts,
could you share with your colleagues your
feelings about this work please?
Mr Hoffstra from accounts: Ah, hmm,
yes er. Well, the metal meshy stuff, it kind of
seems to express both a kind of imprisoned
feeling and also a, a, um a kind of freedom?
Perhaps the artist is trying to show the, er,
strength of human will issuing from the body
shape like a dynamic metal aura… Stern
curator: Trying Mr Hoffstra? (she fi xes the
unfortunate aesthete with a gimlet stare). Do
you mean to suggest that the artist did not
achieve his intentions? Mr Hoffstra from
accounts (cowering): why no Your Curatorship!
Stern curator: And what does the work
make you feel, Mr Hoffstra? Mr Hoffstra
from accounts (still cowering): Oh, valued
as an individual. Yes, and of course, very, er,
in touch with the real world?
" Their employers occupy
something of a parallel
universe, scuttling up and
down the elevators of their
glass and steel anthills… "
Behind the worthiness, there is of course
an element of self-preservation to the curators’
educational roles within their companies.
Twenty years ago, the precursor to
ING’s current collection, (in the days when
it was the Bank Bruxelles Lambert), was a
group of works purchased by Baron Lambert
himself, almost all of which have now left the
company. “The board of directors didn’t ap-
Creative Accountancy the culture briefi ng
preciate what he bought, there was no dialogue,”
explains Patricia dePeuter. “The Baron
sold it; he decided to sell it because he felt
nobody was really interested. I realised how
fragile it was when I arrived; I realised that
it was important not to be in an ivory tower.
A lot of collections are in a foundation, separate
from the company, I think it is very important
for it to be part of the company.”
Although its suppliers may have spent
their student life drinking paint and getting
laid rather than doing hard sums and polishing
their calculators, the art market is a
market for all that. This kind of art doesn’t
operate outside the fi nancial system. In fact
it couldn’t operate without it. As Patricia de-
Peuter of ING so succinctly puts it; “money
is an essential motor for creative things, not
only business.”
No investor worth their back catalogue
will admit to following market trends, in fact
most go out of their way to poo-poo the idea
that their purchasing might follow fashion.
The fact is, in their position at the top at the
art feeding chain, they can in some way dictate
the value of artworks they purchase, allowing
them not to follow fashion, but to create it.
“When companies are buying pieces for over
€ 1 million, they also want to make sure it’s
an investment,” suggests Augustin Dufrasne.
“They want to make sure it’s worth it.”
In reality the process is a virtuous circle;
after years of dedicated legwork, these curators
are now so respected that if they say
a work is worth over € 1 million, then they
must be right. Do bank and corporate col-
THE THIRD WORD — 51
© SABAM

the culture briefi ng Creative Accountancy
07
lections push up the price of the art market?
Yes, without question, says Pick Keobandith
of QuArt. “Some invest in art, some want to
show their power and money. It’s like possessing
a Ferrari, it’s part of the element
that wealthy corporations need to have.”
" It’s like possessing
a Ferrari, it’s part
of the element
that wealthy corporations
need to have. "
The collection of Cera started ten years
ago, when the cooperative bank became a
holding as part of the KBC group. As the
major shareholder in KBC, Cera decided
to use its income to return to its responsible
roots. As well as its social and agricultural
projects, it also started buying up the work
of young artists in tandem with making grant
payments to help them at fragile moments in
their careers. “If you see the art scene at the
moment and the artists that are travelling
everywhere- they are often artists who were
in our collection from the start of their career,”
says Lies Daenen, who is responsible
for Cera’s social and artistic activities. “We
made a difference for those artists and the
Belgian art scene, and that’s our goal.”
Although no doubt conducted without
a hint of cynicism, this is a neat trick if you
54 — THE THIRD WORD
can pull it off. Cera selected its artists under
the advice of Bart de Baere of MuHKA and
art critic Luc Lambrecht, creating a kind of
win-win situation for itself. The artists start
their careers with some heavy endorsement
and an injection of cash to put towards a
specifi c project, while Cera, in turn gains
not only kudos, but also a collection that
will grow in value and reputation.
Those operating in the creative world
tend to see their comparatively inspiring
environment as a kind of payoff for shoddy
remuneration, but no one can really object
to people from the fi nancial world wanting
to surround themselves with beautiful and
inspiring things. Perhaps the next time you
need a little wriggle room with the mortgage
repayments, you’ll fi nd that your banker
will suddenly have engaged with the powerful
ideas of exclusion emanating from the
Juan Muñoz bronze next to the front door,
and become a little more lenient. What does
rankle with many in the art world, however,
is both the rather soul-less, train-spotterish
attitude to assembling some of the collections,
and the fact that the artworks are kept
hidden from the public eye.
08
01. Dexia’s Entrance Hall,
with Jacques Verduyn’s Figure Assise
and Aguire y Otegui Philip’s
Homme Devant un Mur.
02. Dexia’s Staircase, with Jan Fabre’s Mur
de la Montée des Anges.
03. Dexia Curator Patricia Jaspers.
04. ING's Meeting Room,
with Nobuyashi Araki prints.
05. ING Curator Patricia dePeuter.
06. ING's Entrance Hall,
with Anja Schrey’s Hockende III
and a Richard Deacon sculpture.
07. Cera's Vaults.
08. Cera's Head of Artistic Activities
Lise Daemen.
© SABAM

the fashion word
56 — THE THIRD WORD
Abundant with confi dence yet in the most subtle of manners, we’re
tackling our fashion head-on this month.
Photography Sébastien Bonin
Stylist Sandra Herzman

"Petal" Coat Paule KA
In or Out the fashion word
THE THIRD WORD — 57

the fashion word In or Out
58 — THE THIRD WORD

Skirt Sonia Rykiel, Leather Blouse Chine, Patent Leather Belt Delvaux
Mini bags Delvaux, Shoes Paule KA
In or Out the fashion word
THE THIRD WORD — 59

Left.
1. Silk Skirt Zadig et Voltaire, Men's Cardigan Bellerose, "Feather" Scarf Indress
Cotton Shirt Jean Paul Knott — 2. Lurex Leggings Louisa Assomo, Marcel Indress
Above.
Cotton Shirt Jean Paul Knott
In or Out the fashion word
THE THIRD WORD — 61

Shirt Louisa Assomo, Underwear La Perla, High Socks Cos
Shoes Zadig & Voltaire, Bangles Les Précieuses
Photographer
Sébastien Bonin
Assistant
Fred Beyns
Stylist
Sandra Herzman
@ C'est chic
Hair & make up
Eleonore Nataf
Models
Layna and Cindy
@ Dominique
With thanks to
Visual News

the ladies
Beauty
Parlours
For the next in our series
on intimate beauty
features, The Word is
the exclusive bathroom
guest to a host of spotlightfriendly
women. Prepare
to be dazzled, crackled
and popped.
Writer Stéphanie Duval
Sofi e Engelen
VJ on TMF
What is your daily morning beauty routine?
When I enter the bathroom, I always put on
StuBru to listen to the Peter van de Veire
morning show. It’s so funny I fi nd myself
laughing out loud in the shower. And of
course I sing along. It’s a fun way to start the
day. After the shower I blowdry my hair and
put on my day cream. I almost never leave
the house without make-up on. Generally,
I use foundation, concealer, eyeliner, mascara
and blusher. I live with two other girls
at the moment, so our bathroom can get
quite messy. It’s happened before that I had
to call them asking where they put my stuff
because I couldn’t fi nd it.
Did you learn anything being made up professionally
at TMF?
I always pay a lot of attention in the makeup
room, and Fientje, our make-up artist at
TMF, has taught me a lot. I’m actually quite
good at it, too. Last summer, when I was covering
the festivals with my colleague Wendy,
I always had to do her make-up. Not easy,
when you’re living in a little tent which gets
sizzling hot from the sun shining in all day.
64 — THE THIRD WORD
What’s the difference between your regular
day make-up and the make-up on television?
Everything has to be heavier when your face
is on TV. Regular make-up just disappears on
camera. Also, I would never go out with fl ashy
blue eye make-up, a colour Fientje has used on
me before for TMF. It’s not that I don’t like experimenting
with colour, but I tend to stick to
gold, green and grey tones in my free time.
Do you have a beauty trademark?
My nose ring gets a lot of comments, and
it’s something people recognise me by. But
here at TMF they’re always calling me “that
red-haired chick”, so I guess my hair colour
might be something of a trademark. I also
Sophie’s Favorite
Style icon?
Mila Jovovich
Hairdresser?
Headdicted in Antwerp
City?
Berlin
Make-up brand?
I’d like to discover more from
M.A.C.
Motto?
Redheads do it better!
have a slightly punky, short haircut I like to
experiment with. Not that it always works
out though. Last time my hairdresser put in
fl ashy pink streaks, which I’ve since tried
covering up as much as I can!
Experienced any beauty dramas experimenting
like that?
Yes actually, and it had to do with my hair
as well. When I was about 15, I went to the
hairdresser and asked for bright orange
streaks. While that’s exactly what I got, it
didn’t really came out like I had in mind. I
came home in tears, although I didn’t have
the courage nor the money to go back to the
hairdresser and have him do something
about it. It’s my worst beauty memory ever.

Mo of Soul duo
Mo & Grazz
What is your daily morning beauty routine?
This morning I had to do my hair, which
takes about two hours for me to do, because
I have to twist every little hair. It stays in
for about a week and then I have to wash it
and redo it. So once a week it takes up a lot
of time, but I guess that compared to some
women who have to do their hair every day,
is actually a reasonable amount of time.
Do you have any favourite products you like
to use?
I can’t really fi nd products for my skin here,
so we stock up whenever we go to the States.
We use Aveeno for our face and bodies, because
it has a really good skincare line for
combination and dry skin. I also love the
Body Shop, which has a very wide range
of products that I can use for my dry skin.
Their body butters are really good. For my
hair, I couldn’t go to a regular store, so I go
to African specialty stores. For dark skin,
you really have to search.
And make-up wise?
I used to have to go to the States to buy
M.A.C. products, but luckily I don’t anymore
now that they’ve opened a shop in
Antwerp. I love their pressed powder, foundation
and lipsticks. And I’ve been trying to
muster up the courage to buy their professional
brushes, because they really make all
the difference. To me, it’s really important
that I have make-up for on stage. Especially
now that my hair is so short, I fi nd that I
have to make a little more effort on my face,
because it’s really there to be seen. When
I’m doing someone else’s backing vocals,
I really like to go all out: fun colours, fake
eye lashes, the whole lot. When it’s just me
and Grazz on the stage, I tend to play it down
somewhat. But thinking about it, I might be
ready to experiment there a little bit as well!
Have you always worn your hair like this?
It used to be really long, but after I gave
birth to my daughter I started losing my hair.
That’s something women don’t usually tell
you, but it happens. And because my hair
was all locked, I started losing it in clumps,
so I had Grazz shave it all off.
What’s the best beauty advice you’ve ever
been given?
Back in the States my great-grandmother used
to live with us for a while. She was half na-
tive-American, half African-American and
she used to put olive oil on her hair to make it
less coarse. I sometimes do it on my hair, and
since my daughter’s inherited a combination
of my coarse hair and Grazz’s straigt hair I
think I’m going to start using it on her hair as
well. I like that it’s something natural, and it’s
a great eyemake-up remover, as well!
www.mograzz.com
Beauty Parlours the ladies
Mo’s Favorite
Style icon?
Mary J. Blige
Hairdresser?
No one would know what to do
with my hair, so I just do it myself
City?
Philadelphia, USA
Make-up brand?
M.A.C.
Motto?
There’s no one better at being
you, than YOU!
THE THIRD WORD — 65

the ladies Beauty Parlours
Anita’s Favorite
Style icon?
Donna Summer
Hairdresser?
My local hairdresser
Georgie & Greg
City?
Köln
Make-up brand?
I really like Dior,
and I love Make Up Forever’s
colourful eye shadows
Motto?
Be your gorgeous self!
Anita Lixel
Singer & TV Presenter
What is your beauty routine in the morning?
I have a bath every morning. I used to take
showers, but Belgium’s made me switch to
baths because it’s so cold all the time. I do
it to get warmed up, but it’s also just nice to
take a little time for yourself. It’s an excuse
to take an extra fi ve minutes.
You have a pretty interesting bathroom…
I decorated it together with my friend Niki
Daun. She’s a really creative person, who has
a touch with decorating in her own house. Her
guest bathroom is hilarious: it’s very kitsch,
with singing birds and everything. So I’ve always
wanted her to come and decorate my
bathroom. I wanted it to be sophisticated: like
old school glamour but with a little humour in
there as well. So we went for pink, black lace and
polka dots. Niki had some great ideas: she even
hung up some funny lingerie in the corner.
66 — THE THIRD WORD
Do you spend a lot of time in your bathroom?
I love to be in my bathroom. Whenever I’ve
got something important to go to, I just need
that fi nal step: to be in my bathroom, put on
some jazz music and put on my makeup. It’s my
room, and I really love it. The other morning
I went to bring my husband coffee in bed, as
I do every morning, and I was going to bring
the tray upstairs, but instead I went into my
bathroom. I was thinking, oh my god, I love
my bathroom more than I love my husband!
And how does he feel about the pink ladies’
room?
He took one look and said, that is a gay
man’s dream! But he thinks it’s great. He’s
always encouraging me. In fact, he’d let me
do the whole house if I wanted. Except for
his toilet. Can’t touch that.
How does your bathroom refl ect your personal
style?
I like things that are fresh and poppy. But
I also like all the classic divas and clas-
sic beauty. I try to merge a little bit of the
two. I went through this whole fl uorescent
phase when I launched my album last year,
and now that we’re coming near the end of
the promotion I want to do something more
sophisticated, more womanly. I envision my
new look to be lots of trench coats, but with a
twist. And with my makeup I’ll do the same.
A bit more classic makeup, but with an eccentric
hairstyle, like crazy buns.
Ever experienced a beauty drama?
Oh every day. That’s why I do yoga. It’s too
easy to become obsessed with the way you
look. It can become consuming. I’m always
having crises when I’m getting ready, but I
constantly force myself to get over it, because
it’s not important. What’s important is the
ritual of making time for yourself and taking
care of yourself. The details shouldn’t matter.
www.anitalixel.com

Karin
Nuñez de Fleurquin
Jewellery Designer
What’s your daily beauty routine?
I take a quick shower, and afterwards use a
good facial cream. My son, Rocco, is four
and he just loves everything that is even remotely
feminine: my heels, my jewellery, my
clothes, and my beauty products! So every
morning he follows me into the bathroom to
watch my every move. While I’m fi xing my
hair I put a bit of lotion on a cotton ball for
him, and he rubs it onto his legs. It’s our super
cute morning beauty ritual.
Do you use a lot of make-up?
I leave the house without any make-up on,
but I’ve made it my habit to apply some of
it in the car on my way from dropping off
the kids at school to my workshop. The rest
of my make-up I like to put on in my workshop,
and sometimes I’ll do a small touch up
in front of the big mirror in the store. I also
make sure the shop smells like my favourite
perfume, Narciso Rodriguez.
Do you pay special attention to your appearance
when you’re in your shop?
I think having nice and pretty hands is a necessity
when you work in a jewellery store. I
always look at people’s hands to see if they are
nervous people or if they smoke a lot. Unfortunately
I have real worker’s hands. I’d like to
have those beautiful, long nails, but for jewellery
designer that’s pretty diffi cult. So I make
sure to keep my nails short and trim, and I
paint them in a fi ery red on special occasions,
because it makes me feel more chic.
What was your biggest beauty drama?
While I was in college I once seriously over
plucked my eyebrows. When I came out of
the bathroom I saw the look of shock on my
roommate’s face. I barely had any eyebrows
Beauty Parlours the ladies
Karin’s Favorite
Style icon?
Sophie Marceau
Hairdresser?
Steven at Patrick’s International
in Antwerp
City?
Paris
Make-up brand?
Shiseido
Motto?
Lachen is gezond!
(Laughing is healthy)
left. I went to a beauty salon to get it fi xed,
and I nearly agreed to have them tattoo eyebrows
onto my face. But then the beautician
drew them on in pencil and the effect was
even more horrendous, so I decided to leave
it as it was. And let me tell you, eyebrows
take a long time to grow!
www.karinnunezdefl eurquin.com
THE THIRD WORD — 67

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world of Cachemire Coton et Soie…
68 — THE THIRD WORD
Opened over 17 years ago, the boutique
begun on the back of owner Sophie Helsmoortel’s
belief that people “were buying a
lot of everything” as she says, and needed a
helping hand. Her timely concept: a shop
specialising in white blouses, grey fl annel
trousers for women and, evidently, cashmere.
From the outset, Cachemire offered,
the ideal environment for discreet, styleconscious
women to indulge in their most
treasured of occupations.
“Sophie has created a timeless universe of
tasteful luxury” says Marie Raynal of agents
TWL, who have worked with Cachemire for
the past couple of years, “one which is never
too obvious or loud”. Ringing true to the
owner’s recognition of a discerning and selfrespecting
clientele, the boutique doesn’t
do brands – although it stocks some of the
fi nest – but instead chooses to downplay its
many staple names in favour of a strength of
character, personality and conviction.
“Our clientele comes to us for our handpicked
selections, expertise and passion”
confi rms Sophie. And what goes on behindthe-scenes
to maintain such a high level of
service requires a reliable, loyal and dedi-

The Word & Cachemire Coton et Soie Advertorial
02 03 04 Why we like
Cachemire
cated team. “The amount of people involved
behind-the-scenes in the boutique’s every
aspect is often overlooked” confi rms our
host “Our sales team do an especially wonderful
job and are not only essential to the
boutique’s success but also to our clients’
satisfaction”
On the graphic design side, Sophie works
with award-winning agency BaseDesign for
its overall identity – spanning everything
from shopping bags to Cachemire’s now
eponymous “Images de Saisons” mailings,
announcing a new season’s arrivals. “Sophie
put her trust in us when we still were
a three-man agency” says one-third of BaseDesign
founding trio Thierry Brunfaut.
And although the agency’s three founders
aren’t directly involved with Cachemire
anymore, they nonetheless remain close to
the boutique and still very much feel part of
its extended family.
Marie Raynal, of TWL, echoes this
family-like bond: “Our relationship with
Cachemire is more of a partnership than a
typical business relation”. Indeed, most of
the partners and colleagues we spoke with
all expressed a heightened sense of belonging
and responsibility with regards to the
success of the boutique. This even goes beyond
the remits of Cachemire’s inner circle:
when The Word was visiting, the constant
fl ow of women entering the store felt more
like a family reunion than your usual shopping
duties.
Barbara Ferret, who mainly is responsible
for Cachemire’s merchandising and
window-dressing, also occupies a crucial
position in the boutique’s inner workings.
Capitalizing on the tactile experience that
is shopping, Barbara makes it sound more
like pleasure than an actual job: “Spending
eight hours playing around with clothes and
touching everything from cashmere and silk
to Egyptian cotton and pure merino wool is
a luxury” she says. And we don’t fi nd it too
hard to believe her.
But all this would be omitting another integral
part to the Cachemire Empire: its trousers-only
boutique and its showroom. The
boutique, Suite, is a temple to trousers and a
welcome reminder that the best things in life
often come from specialised, single-product
stores. The showroom, above the Cachemire
boutique, showcases those brands which
Sophie represents in Belgium. From Loyd
Maish (“A magnifi cent use of leather” says
window-dresser Barbara Ferret) to Heschung
and BlancKelly (Sophie’s own design,
“elegant, modern and easy to wear” states
TWL’s Marie Raynal) its selection is yet a
further confi rmation of the good taste prevalent
in the universe that is Cachemire.
So consider yourself warned: Cachemire if
you can…
Cachemire Coton et Soie
Rue Franz Merjay Straat 53
1050 Brussels
01. Founder & Owner
Sophie Helsmoortel
02. Cachemire Girls Nathalie,
Maïté and Christine
03. BaseDesign’s Pierre and Aurore
— Because we like places
where everyone knows our name
— Because we like not having to
go all the way downtown for our
shopping fi xe
— Because we like places
which make us look unique
— Because we like receiving
Base Design-created mailings
Cachemire
in Numbers
33. Number of seasons since
day one
668. Times windows have been
changed
42. Amount of Base Designcreated
mailings
792. Amount of days spent
abroad looking for new products
THE THIRD WORD — 69

diners' check
The
Secret Dinner
At whatever dinner party we’ve lately been invited to, the one
name that is on everyone’s lips is that of a chef who apparently
prepares the most exquisite and out-of-the-box of gastro-delights
from the comfort of your own home. Not ones to be outdone, we
set out to fi nd this Master of the “do-it-at-home” haute-cuisine…
and could not resist the temptation of ask him to whip something
up for The Word team.
Writer Séverine Vaissaud
What The Word Ate
01. Mackerel tartare with its
herbs and spices seasoning.
02. Verrine of raw shrimps,
fresh guacamole and its curry
fl avoured yoghourt sauce.
70 — THE THIRD WORD
03. Grilled King Crab legs fi lled
with lemon and herbs pesto.
04. Langoustines grilled in
tomato cubes and olive oil.
05. Salmon fi let and Codfi sh
backs topping green and white
asparagus seasoned with
Chardonnay vinaigrette.
06. Small clams cooked in
their own stock of white wine,
garlic and parsley.

Prosse, the Name is Prosse
From inception to completion, Prosse – our
ultimate cookery expert – has developed
a novel way of showcasing his singular talent,
one which could best be described as
“include, invade, impress”. Indeed, a fi rst
meeting at the client’s house is scheduled, allowing
our chef to inspect the kitchen equipment
at his disposal before sitting down with
the avid gourmet to discuss potential preferences,
budgets and dates – making clear the
fact that only seasonal produce will be used
for his gastro-creations. With every detail
inspected, Prosse then begins to shop, the
availability and provenance of ingredients
one of the many factors he takes into account
in his selection.
Constraint as a Precursor to Creativity
His many creations often spring from the
unavailability of certain produces and
his knack for unearthing them. His secret
weapons, testament to his passion and years
of experience, is his knowledge of and, in
some cases, personal relationship with a
great many producers. This in turn means
that he is always aware of who has the best
of what, and more importantly, when. From
poultry to game and fi sh or the fi rst spring
asparagus, there isn’t a lot which seems to
escape our Chef’s expert eyes.
Cooking Equals Sharing
Once D-day has arrived, our Chef makes
himself at home in his clients’ kitchens, (re-)
arranging them with his own pans, tableware,
knives and groceries so as to fi nd his
bearings once the heat is on. This is a time
for the host gastro-afi cionados to observe,
mingle and soak in; there is nothing Prosse
enjoys more than to have company in the
kitchen and to share his passion for slow,
thoughtful and distinctive cuisine. Not to
be underestimated in the wholesome experiences
that are his dinners is the sense of
learning and togetherness. Put simply, his
idea of cooking revolves around methodology,
pedagogy, team spirit and socialising,
although the latter isn’t without its risks, as
Prosse fondly remembers some very clumsy
guests whose goodwill could not transcend
their gaucheness.
07. Poultry broth perfumed
with spring fl avours of asparagus
and Korean Enoki mushrooms
accompanied with smoked duck
breast ‘magrets’.
When the Student Became the Master
When prompted about his earliest culinary
memory and who he associated it with, the
answer is automatic: vanilla cream made
with his mother at the tender age of seven.
Too small at the time, she used to set him on
a chair so that he could reach the pots and
spoons to stir his dessert.
Prosse’s urge to cook came at quite an
early stage. At 12 he was already cooking
entire meals for his family. But although he
demonstrated a culinary talent at such an
early age, life being life, he went on to study
administration and economics.
His love of cooking never disappeared
however and, as years went by, Prosse went
on cooking for friends and family until one
day he decided to start a three-year evening
cooking class at Anderlecht’s internationally
renowned CERIA Campus.
The aim was dual: improve his basic skills
whilst focusing on complex disciplines such
as the mastering of sauces and the expertise
required to cook fi sh.
08. Filet mignon slices on
a celeriac and Jerusalem
artichokes puree with its grilled
spring onions and truffl e pesto.
09. Verrine of stewed pears
topped with crackled wafers,
smooth sugary cottage cheese
seasoned with fresh lemon juice
syrup, zest of lemon preserve
and berries.
The Secret Dinner diners' check
Our secret chef then started to practice
his art for new clients and he confesses (with
a smile) that his fi rst big experience did not
go quite as he had wished. There were a lot
of guests and he was a bit nervous of course;
so much so that one of the plates he served
was so full of sauce that part of it fell on the
knees of a distinguished older lady and her
spotless white dress.
Twelve years on however, and Prosse’s
bespoke culinary skills seem to be increasingly
requested, obliging him to limit theses
hush-hush dinners by the count of one per
week. And his many clients are unanimous:
whatever the requests and challenges Prosse
always fulfi ls them to the fullest. Be it a new
luxury boutique’s opening, a 50-seat outdoor
dining fest or a candle-lit dinner for two,
Prosse continues to be the one secret word
uttered at each and every one of them…
What The Word Drank
01. Gordello 2005.
02. Txomin Etxaniz 2005.
03. Juan de Albret 2003.
04. Evian and Badoit Water.
THE THIRD WORD — 71

the surreal
Codeword:
Operation
Bloempanch
— It all started when the boss informed us that The
Word’s next issue would be dealing with secret societies.
We all agreed this announced something rather special.
And my own particular mission was simple though
slightly unnerving awkward. I was to infi ltrate a secret
society and convince their members to open up. And
open up they did. Explorer of the unordinary Séverine
Vaissaud meets Brussels’ Order of the Bloempanch.
Writer Séverine Vaissaud
01
72 — THE THIRD WORD

After days of negotiations, a meeting with
two of the Order’s founding members was
scheduled. We were set to meet at seventeen
hundred hours at the Order’s HQ, a discreet
and slightly shabby bar located, strangely
enough, in front of the Manneken Pis. The
password had been set a few days earlier.
Bloempanch. I was to carry a magazine with
me for identifi cation purposes.
The Meet
On the day I am supposed to meet with our
Bloempanchers, I enter the bar, head towards
the counter and whisper the password
to a nervous-looking barman. His rapid
evaluation of me out of the way, he points to
a table removed from the bustle of the rest
of the bar. I sit and start to look for possible
emergency exits. A few seconds later the
same barman comes back and asks: “Can I
take your order ?” “One sparkling water”
I manage to say. He smirked: “Not a local,
are you ?” The atmosphere becomes slightly
nerve-racking. A man suddenly appears
and says: “That’s all right Jeff, she’s with me.
Bring us two Faros.”
The President of the Order, Bob de Backer is
standing right in front of me with co-founder
Jean Tondeur. Dressed in dark grey suits with
royal blue ties, both men wear what I soon realize
is the Order’s Emblem: a huge pewter
medal painted in black with white spots.
The Order of the Bloempanch was
founded in 1996 under the initiative of fi ve
friends who thought it important to stand
up for Brussels’ cultural, folk and culinary
culture. They also sought to give added impetus
to archaic and disappearing cooking
specialities such as Bloempanch, a typical
meal from the Marolles.
At its core, the Bloempanch was the daily
meal of white-collar workers from Brussels’
Marolles district in the late 19 th and early
20 th century. It is a black pudding made out
of buckwheat fl our, pork fat and blood. Initially
considered as the “poor man’s meal”
because of its popularity with the working
classes, it progressively disappeared from
plates, inversely proportioned to the rise in
post-World War II living standards. However,
since 1996 and thanks to the Order’s
relentless promotion of the delicacy, one
can once again quite easily fi nd Bloempanch
at selected butchers’ and restaurants.
But what about the recipe? I ask. Bob
de Backer and Jean Tondeur look at me as
if I am just about to overstay my welcome.
“Sorry Miss, the recipe is a well-kept secret,
the kind that is only to be transmitted from
02
father to son. But we’ll give you a few addresses
to buy or eat some.”
I realize that I suddenly am walking on a
thin line, and opt to change subjects…
The Order also deals with solemn matters
so as to perpetuate the cultural and
linguistic heritage of the city: up to now, the
Brotherhood has been able to have around
30 street-name signs installed in the historical
city centre. Wandering through the city’s
centre, it is hard to miss these white and blue
enamelled boards re-baptizing the offi cial
streets in Brussels dialect and describing
true or legendary urban stories.
Every year during spring, a Chapter
(or general assembly) takes place in
Brussels’City Hall, allowing the Order to
set up Honoris Causa members. They all
share a common feature: they have contributed
to exert the infl uence of Brussels or
their region on a cultural, political or artistic
level. Among the most famous of them
are Jazz musician Toots Thielemans, singer
Annie Cody, Minister Charles Picqué and
International Olympic Committee Chairman
Jacques Rogge. (The Next Chapter will
be held on Saturday 14 th June at 15h30 and
Operation Bloempanch the surreal
Where to Taste It
Restobières
Rue des Renards
/ Vossenstraat 32
1000 Brussels
La fl eur en Papier Doré
Rue des Alexienstraat 55
1000 Brussels
Where to Buy It
Boucherie Embourg
Place du Colonel Bremer
/ Kolonel Bremerplein 114
1030 Brussels
will be followed by a Bloempanch tasting
and a procession to the Manneken Pis. In a
bid to showcase the Brotherhood activities,
non-members are welcome).
President Bob de Backer tells me it is
also an ideal way to recruit new members, at
which point I can’t help but wonder what kind
of strange and obscur tests one has to endure
to be part of the Order. “Easy”, President de
Backer says. “All you have to do is send me a
mail and apply for membership! There are
various levels according to the subscription
you chose (from € 15 to € 25 a year).”
Our conversation nearing its end, it is
time to part, but not at the same time. Bob de
Backer and Jean Tondeur order Faro beers as
a pretext to stay longer. We shake hands and
I leave the fi rst so as not to attract one’s attention.
Mission accomplished, Bloempanch
infi ltrated.
www.bloempanch.be
01. The Mighty Bloempanch
02. Co-Founder and Committee Member:
Jean Tondeur
THE THIRD WORD — 73

design
What Xavier
Brought Back
— To design journalists, Milan indicates a week-long
orgy of gossip, bitchery, free champagne and furniture.
But what does it look like to the people doing all the
work? Xavier Lust lays bare his Milan diary
Writer Hettie Judah
Tuesday 15 th
After my fl ight from Brussels on the fi rst night
there was a cocktail reception at Baleri (01) . Of
course I had visited many times to see the developments
in the Sumo (02) chair’s production,
but it was fi nished the night before the fair, so
this was the fi rst time I’d seen it properly and
saw the fabrics they had chosen for it. I loved
the tweed – the Sumo is dressed by Cerrutti!
I went on to Superstudio [in the Zona Tortona]
where Indera (03) were presenting Flow, an
aluminium-framed sofa that used my folding
technique. I hadn’t seen the fi nished product
before, but I’d chosen the fabrics myself from
Luciano Marcato in Milan. There was a press
tour there, and so I did some interviews.
After that I went to a nice party organised
by Karla Otto – she’s the n°1 PR, and all the
events that she does are incredible. This was
the New York Times event at the Bulgari hotel
and everybody was there, the Bouroullecs,
Starck, Ron Arad – the stars of the sector, as
well as people like Miucia Prada, it was crazy.
Before the party I had passed by MDF
Italia's (04) showroom to see my two chair
prototypes [the C-Chair and the S-Chair].
The showroom was closed but they know
me and let me in. The chairs had been very
well done but were still really prototypes;
it’s fi ne that they were just displaying at the
74 — THE THIRD WORD
showroom not at the fair, since the MDF
stand is kind of my stand this year anyway.
It would have been too much.
Wednesday 16 th
This morning was the opening of the fair.
First I went to see the MDF stand, and then
to Baleri. Afterwards I visited Maxdesign,
but it seems that they didn’t make my prototype.
After visiting the Indera stall, I had
an interview with Austrian media, then a
meeting with a Dutch magazine and a few
more interviews and pictures. They talked
to me about Belgian design. I told them I had
nothing to do with Belgian design; it’s not my
problem. I also met my friend Birgit Lohmann
from Designboom (05) .
Everybody loved the S-Table that I did last
year, and some companies are now very hot to
work with me. I had meetings with FIAM and
Liv’it; both want to do projects. Serralunga
also want a meeting; they work with people
like Zaha Hadid, so it’s a thing to do.
On Wednesday night I was with my friend
Philippe Jousse of Jousse Entreprise in Paris.
We were in a taxi with 3 or 4 people and
Philippe called Karla Otto. That night she had
organised a party in an incredible house in the
centre of Milan. It was where Leonardo slept
when he was making the Frecos, on one of the
most chic streets in the city. It was a very select
crowd. For the fi rst time I actually talked with
Philippe Starck. I have seen him maybe 100
times before, but what was there to say?
We stayed quite a long time, and were too
late to get into the Wallpaper party, but we
met with Nick Vinson (06) who is a very nice
guy and gave us a bag from the party.
After that we went in a group to dinner
together at Baglioni, which is part of the Hotel
Carlton. It’s somewhere that you can eat
late, which is not easy to fi nd in Milan. It’s
also the only restaurant in Milan where you
can smoke.
Thursday 17 th
In the morning I had an appointment with
Sarah Balmond of Monocle magazine– she’s
planning to publish a piece on the house I
designed in Ibiza, and other things. After
that, Martha Griffi n, the director of Salone
Satellite, invited me to eat at the VIP club
restaurant because I had been asked to give
a lecture at the Salone Satellite where I had
started my career. I did the lecture at 15h00;
there were not so many people there, maybe
about 20; it was not very well organised. I
made a tour of the Satellite and talked with

the young Brussels designers, then I met the
Belgian ambassador to Italy and someone
from the chamber of commerce. Milan will
have a Universal Expo in 2015, and they
were already working on the idea of promoting
Belgium through fashion and design.
I walked past the Estel (07) stall; they’re a
company I designed a chair for in 2005; but
I have heard nothing from them since them,
no royalties, nothing. Then today I saw that
they had my chair on show at their stand,
badly produced. It’s strange to see your own
chair like that.
I met with Philippe Jousse and we left the
fair at about 17h30; you never saw such chaos,
it was worse than a heavy metal concert.
There was a queue of more than one hour to
get down to the Metro platform, and there was
also an incredible queue for the taxis. We took
a taxi, but with the traffi c it took an hour to get
into Milan. I went back to my Hotel for half an
hour, then to the Ron Arad exhibition.
After that I had the Elle Decoration Design
Award party –the fi rst thing I had to do
was go in front of a camera so that they could
fi lm me talking about what I thought of Elle
Deco. Then I could start drinking Veuve
Cliquot champagne. It was in the Versace
Theatre, which was a really nice place for
a party. There must have been 1000 people
there, maybe more.
I was going to collect my award with Bruno
Fattorini [of MDF], but he didn’t see me,
and he came onto the stage from the other
side, so we ended up meeting in the middle.
I kissed him like a father and said thanks
to him for trusting me; he was the fi rst one,
and he’s still there today. When we came off
stage everyone was grabbing me.
We escaped the Elle party and tried to
get into the one for Established & Sons – it
was too late, so we jumped from one party
to another for a while. At the end we found
the after-party for Established & Sons where
there were a lot of caipirinhas. We fi nished
at 3h30 or 4h00 in the morning, a little bit
drunk. I was going to have to get up early; I
had a meeting with Driade (08) at 9h30, and I
had to see my assistant before that to get the
last document.
What Xavier Brought Back design
01. Baleri Italia
High-design furniture company founded
in 1984 by Enrico Baleri. Since 2004,
Nino Cerruti has been majority shareholder.
02. Sumo chair
Distinctively shaped upholstered armchair
created for Baleri's 2008 collection
by Xavier Lust.
03. Indera
Young Belgian furniture company
producing high-end sofas
and modular seating.
04. MDF Italia
Milan-based furniture design company under
the creative direction of Bruno Fattorini.
In 2000 they branched out to produce pieces
by young designers from outside the company,
of which Xavier Lust was one of the fi rst.
05. Designboom
Authoritative design website offering
resources, interviews, fora and courses.
06. Nick Vinson
Special projects editor
at Wallpaper* Magazine.
07. Estel
70-year-old Italian company,
producing mainly corporate, but also domestic
furnishings. Recently went through
a period of acquisitions.
08. Driade
Top-end Italian producer of home furnishings,
kitchenware and objects.
THE THIRD WORD — 75
© Xavier Lust

eye-opener
— Pierre’s ingenious and frankly
impressive series on – and with - water
had us wanting for more. So we asked
him to shoot this issue’s eye-opener
feature. Revisiting his original concept,
this series offers a new take on what is
sure to become a classic.
Photography Pierre Debuscherre
76 — THE THIRD WORD

Hidden Appearances eye-opener
THE THIRD WORD — 77

eye-opener Hidden Appearances
78 — THE THIRD WORD

Hidden Appearances eye-opener
THE THIRD WORD — 79

eye-opener Hidden Appearances
80 — THE THIRD WORD

Hidden Appearances eye-opener
THE THIRD WORD — 81

eye-opener Hidden Appearances
Model Jey Crisfar
82 — THE THIRD WORD
www.pierredebusschere.com

the word on the street
— We fi rst came across Kelly’s work in
a juice bar we’ve recently taken a liking
to and were instantly intrigued by her
intricate, somber yet beautiful illustrations.
Her work already imbued with a certain
sense of secrecy, it only seemed natural she
contribute to our Secret Society issue.
Illustration Kelly De Meyer
84 — THE THIRD WORD

Kelly De Meyer the word on the street
THE THIRD WORD — 85

the word on the street Kelly De Meyer
86 — THE THIRD WORD

Kelly De Meyer the word on the street
THE THIRD WORD — 87

the word on the street Kelly De Meyer
88 — THE THIRD WORD

Kelly De Meyer the word on the street
THE THIRD WORD — 89

our playlists
Songs
We Listen To
Nicholas’s Playlist
Delphine’s Playlist
01. Johhny Morisette
& Jennel Hawkins Sexette
I'm Hungry
02. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Genuine
03. Spanky Wilson & The Quantic Soul Orchestra
Message to Tomorrow
04. Ash Grunwald
Keep it Real
05. Breakestra
Hiding
06. The Poets of Rhythm
Strockin' the Grits
07. The Bamboos feat. Alice Russell
Transcend Me
08. D'Angelo
Everybody Loves The Sunshine
(Live Cover)
01. Bettye Lavette
Let Me Down Easy
02. Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
Beggin ( Pilooski re-edit)
03. Michael Jackson
P.Y.T. ( Pretty Young Thing)
04. Sean Lennon
Parachute
05. Feist
My Moon My Man
( Boys Noize remix)
06. Joan As Police Woman
Christobel
07. Michael Cera & Ellen Page Anyone
Else But You
08. Patti Smith
Smells Like Teen Spirit
90 — THE THIRD WORD
Jacques' Playlist
PLMD’s Playlist
01. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Hopscotch Willy
02. dEUS
Eternal Woman
03. The Go Find
Dictionary
04. Happy Mondays
24 Hour Party People
05. Silver Jews
Random Rules
06. Peter von Poehl
Going to Where the Tea Trees Are
07. Blonde Redhead
Spring and By Summer Fall
08. Girls In Hawaii
This Farm Will End Up In Fire
01. Weezer
Pork & Beans
02. Duran Duran
Girls on Films
03. Diabologum
La maman et la putain
04. Jonny Greenwood
There Will be Blood OST
05. Nirvana
Frances Farmer Will Have
Her Revenge on Seattle
06. Why?
The Hollows
07. MSTRKRFT
VuVuVu
08. Battles
Tonto

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advertorial The Word & Marriott Hotels
— Why we enjoy
Meetings so much…
Three months since The Word’s soft launch
and we can safely say we have been to our
fair share of hotels, restaurants and bars.
You see, constant investor, advertiser and
contributor meetings mean we often need to
select venues with dual, if not sometimes triple,
purposes: dining, meeting and sleeping.
And this is why Marriott Hotels have earned
our seal of approval…
With three properties in Brussels, this
5-star suite of hotels knows how to take care
of its own. Indeed, its immaculately-styled
hotel rooms, perfectly-serviced business
lounges and impeccable all-round service
appeals to the most demanding of customers:
discerning business travellers, moneyed
tourists and local big-hitters.
Marriott’s fl agship hotel in particular, located
at the tip of the city’s Rue A. Dansaert,
has our vote. Nestled in the heart of the
city, The Word’s team has been known to
schedule a ‘meeting’ or two at what is our favourite
city ‘statement’ hotel. We say ‘meeting’
because the bar has some outrageously
tasty cocktails which somehow give us the
impression meetings there go better than expected
– or do they?
And although we are not fans of hotel restaurants
as they often turn out to be nothing
more than diners with old furniture, Brussels
Marriott’s Midtown Grill is an entirely different
story. Its scrumptious American-style
92 — THE THIRD WORD
food and lounge-like atmosphere make it the
place to go for that much-need early evening
cocktail and the city’s best grilled meat; a
must-try is its 700gr Rib eye steak (700gr!).
For those needing something closer to
the city’s European or Business hubs, Marriott’s
two other addresses, one in the heart
of Brussels’ European district and the other
5 minutes from its business parks and international
airport, hit all the right spots.
Its Renaissance hotel, just off vibrant
Place du Luxembourg and right opposite the
E.U’s Parliament, is a regular for E.U power
lunches and high-staked negotiations. The
hotel restaurant, whips up an exciting blend
of inventive French and Belgian culinary
delights, has even earned quite a reputation
for itself, with locals now using it as their
regular ‘eating-out’ and meeting point.
And for those last-minute meetings with
our editor or photographer on our way to
the airport, nothing beats the practicality
and subtle settings of Marriott’s Courtyard
hotel. Add to that their delicious range of
Martini cocktails, complete with hints of
mint and banana, and we somehow sometimes
manage to miss that one last fl ight…
for good reason we say.

Stockists…
and
Others
We Love
Box Gallery, Brussels
www.boxgalerie.be
Mayerline
www.mayerline.be
Leffe
www.leffe.be
Cook & Book
www.cookandbook.be
Ancienne Belgique
www.abconcerts.be
Botanique
www.botanique.be
Tickl magazine
www.tickl-magazine.com
Bozar
www.bozar.be
Studio Brussel
www.stubru.be
Worldwide Festival
www.worldwidefestival.com
Appletree Records
www.appletreerecords.net
Delvaux
www.delvaux.com
Martin Margiela
www.maisonmartinmargiela.com
Chine Collection
www.chinecollection.com
Zadig & Voltaire
www.zadig-et-voltaire.com
Diesel
www.diesel.com
Essentiel
www.essentiel.be
Olivier Strelli
www.strelli.be
Hermes
www.hermes.com
Paul Ka
www.paulka.com
Sonia Rykiel
www.sonyarykiel.fr
Bellerose
www.bellerose.be
Indress
www.indress.net
Jean Paul Knott
www.jeanpaulknott.com
Louisa Assomo
+32 (0)485 912 057
La Perla
+32 (0)2 646 99 80
Cos
+32 (0)2 223 36 00
Les Précieuses
+32 (0)2 503 28 90
Xavier Lust
www.xavierlust.com
ING
www.ing.be
Dexia
www.dexia.com
Fortis
www.fortis.com
Cera Bank
www.cera.be
Pierre Debusschere
www.pierredebusschere.com
Alice Gallery
www.alicebxl.com
Crown Gallery
www.crowngallery.be
Zeno X Gallery
www.zeno-x.com
Augustin Dufrasne
www.dufrasnegallery.com
BozarShop
www.bozarshop.com
BaseDesign
www.basedesign.com
Laid Back Radio
www.laid-back.be
On-Point TV
www.on-point.be
Design Addict
www.designaddict.com
SensOtheque
www.sensotheque.com
I Like Big Buttons
www.ilikebigbuttons.com
Nathalie Bladt
www.nathaliebladt.com
Winery
www.wineryonline.be
bar louis
www.barlouis.be
caffee coiffee
www.caffeecoiffee.be
stockists
THE THIRD WORD — 93

advertisers' round up
page 2 - 3
Pepe Jeans
www.pepejeans.com
page 6
Guerlain
www.guerlain.com
page 21
Vichy Homme
www.vichyhomme.be
94 — THE THIRD WORD
page 9
Carpe Diem
www.carpediem.com
page 25
Eastpak
www.eastpak.com
page 4 - 5
Shiseido
www.shiseido.com
page 11 page 13
Saab
www.saab.be
page 27
Godiva
www.godiva.be
Bang & Olufsen
www.bang-olufsen.com
page 29
Aspria
www.aspria.be

page 31
Tamarind Foods
www.tamarindfoods.be
page 55
Volvo
www.volvocars.be
page 91
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page 69 page 83
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page 99
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www.burberrythebeat.com
Sony
www.sony.be/images
page 100
Hermès
www.hermes.com
advertiser’s round up
THE THIRD WORD — 95

the last word
The Death
of the
Developer
— Anything which
combines passion,
know-how and a hint of
nostalgia is sure to warrant
our attention. And the
following most certainly
does. Huddled in the
backyard of a charming
house on Ixelles’ Rue de la
Concorde, we’ve dug out
what is probably the last
of a dying breed: a colour
transparency laboratory.
The Word meets founder
Georges Coppers and gets
an unexpected lesson in
chemistry…
Writer Nicholas Lewis
96 — THE THIRD WORD
In its heyday, from 1998 to 2002, American
Colours Laboratory used to process an average
of 18 m 2 of fi lm per day! Fast forward
eight years, and the studio is happy when it
gets a couple of fi lms to process, let alone
18 m 2 worth. Whilst at the time the studio’s
order books were kept full by its more than
60 daily clients, these can now be counted
on the fi ngers of one hand, testament to a
world gone digital. (Tellingly, the studio
had fi ve full-time employees as late as 2004
but the team is now down to Georges and the
youngest of his two sons, Christopher)
Georges Coppers, a former US Navy and
fashion photographer, came to Belgium in
the early 1970s with his then-girlfriend after
having spent the better part of the last
10 years travelling back-and-forth between
New York, Greece and Brussels (Paris was
actually supposed to be his last stop but
boarding the wrong train at the station sent
him on his way to Brussels).
Upon arriving in town, a chance encounter
with photographer Roger Asselberghs resulted
in both of them opening a studio specialised
in colour transparency photography.
Capitalising on his training as a mechanical
engineer in the Navy, whilst at the same
time drawing on his experience as a fashion
photographer, the idea of opening a photography
studio seemed obvious to Georges:
“The Navy defi nitely opened my eyes to the
future of photography” he now says.
“We rented the house in which the studio
is still located for 3,000 Belgian Francs at the
time” Georges tells us. He now owns the entire
property, a magnifi cent art-deco inspired
house in the heart of the capital’s Louise area
which would today probably go for millions.
From the outset, he was keen to instil a
certain American way to treating photography,
evident both in the hangers he had
specially-made and imported from New
York or in his near-overzealous attention
to detail. Georges was also determined to
make the lab one of the fi rst to be entirely
eco-friendly: chemicals are, rather painstakingly,
recycled onsite and the nitrogen
used for agitating these chemicals is also
made on site. At one point, Georges even
offered nearby schools the possibility of
recycling their chemicals, instead of them
being thrown down the sewers.
The early days, however, weren’t as easy as
one might think, as Georges is quick to point
out: “I was going back to New York at least
twice a year, as the city had a lot of work for
a fashion photographer and the studio was
still picking up”. His two sons used to help
out over summer in the studio and work surely
started picking up, soon making his frequent
cross-Atlantic trips unnecessary…
“We were developing and making duplicates
for a wealth of clients, from artists
and museums to advertising agencies and
libraries” says Georges. Indeed, when The
Word was visiting the studio, we were shown
an amazing collection of proofs, from old
Mr Propre and Volkswagen adverts to archives
of artists Marin Kasimir and Marcel
Broodthaers to name but a few…
And the celebrity tales don't end there.
The studio has seen everyone from Michael
Jackson to David Bowie pass throught its
machines. "Michael Jackson's photographers
come in the day after a concert to ask for his
pictures to be pushed up a notch even though
they were perfectly fi ne" says Georges. "Bowie
also came in personally one day to check
his previous night's concert pictures" he goes
on; reminiscing how nice the singer was.
" Every new digital camera
which comes onto the
market results in less
clients likely to come
through the lab’s door "
Nowadays, the story is entirely different,
with the studio barely surviving. Although
it still has enough clients - mainly photography
students, other photography labs outsourcing
their transparencies and duplicates
and some museums and galleries keen to archive
their collections - to keep the place going,
“every new digital camera which comes
onto the market” as Georges observes “results
in less clients likely to come through
the lab’s doors”.
Rather admirably though, he is realistic
in his assessment of the studio’s near-demise,
even going as far as praising the benefi
ts of digital photography: “ it is the future
of photography” he tells us.
Although we would never question his
years of experience, we cannot help but
hope he’s wrong… just this one time.
American Color Laboratory
Rue de la Concorde Straat 31
1050 Brussels

© Geneviève Balasse
The studio
in numbers
1971.
American Colour Laboratory
opens.
2 hours.
Time needed to develop a fi lm.
30.5 m 2 .
Record amount of fi lm developed
in one day.
6.75m.
Length of the developer.
How it works
1. Client drops fi lms and specifi
es if he needs them pushed or
dropped, mounted or sleeved.
2. The fi lm is then put into the
dark room, where it is ready to
start the development phase.
3. This will take approximately
one hour, during which time the
fi lm will go through 11 baths.
4. Once developed, the fi lm is
dried for 40 minutes and is then
ready to be sleeved or mounted.
5. Client picks up fi lms.
The Death of the Developer the last word
THE THIRD WORD — 97

what's next
Although budgetary concerns mean
we won’t just yet be jetting-off to Buenos Aires for the weekend,
we’re nonetheless doing it Grand Wordismo-style for our next issue.
Here are some of the things you can expect:
The Ultimate Business Traveller’s Kit
Essential Getaway Accessories
The Low Cost Generation
Paris – Brussels - London in a Day
Caravan Design and Private Jet Interiors
And in the fi rst of many consumerist features,
the next issue also marks the beginning of
a new section to the magazine: The Showstoppers.
Every issue, we bring you the best of what sales assistants
the world over are fl ogging.
And we’re also going to make a regular out
of our diner dates if any of you might want to join us…
The Word’s Ultimate Getaway issue
Out July 18 th
Catch it if you can.
98 — THE THIRD WORD
v